


Nocēre

by jury



Category: Original Work
Genre: Aphrodisiacs, Bathing/Washing, Begging, Caning, Choking, Desperation, Face Slapping, Face-Sitting, M/M, Non-consensual Object Insertation, Orgasm Control, Orgasm Denial, Painplay, Plot, Restraints, Rimming, Sadism, Scratching, Torture, Verbal Humiliation, Whipping, elements of forced feminisation, ruined orgasm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-04-06 20:19:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 30,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14064777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jury/pseuds/jury
Summary: Would-be assassin Tam wakes up in the clutches of a gleeful torturer who is exactly what he seems.





	Nocēre

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dirtiersocks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dirtiersocks/gifts).



He opened his eyes and found nothing but darkness and terrible cold, his hands reaching up high above his head, bound with something that burned like ice against his bare flesh. Tam took quick stock of himself. Limbs attached. Head, aching all of the back. Face, tender. He pulled hard on whatever had cuffed his arms to the table he was straight-backed on, but there was no give to it. No rattle of chains or movement of an anchor. It was part of the table itself, a metal core that resisted each and every one of his frenzied pulls. He could touch his other hand, but when he felt around the mechanism, there was no lock that he could find. Not that it mattered, as someone had found the lockpick he stored in his mouth. He shivered at that — someone had reached fingers into his mouth while he was asleep. The lock must be on the other side of the table. He could feel the gap in the wood. Clever. Whoever had made this was clever. His legs were bound by something similar. He was stretched from wrist to ankle with no possibility of breaking free. That didn't stop him trying until his wrists were raw and he was panting, mouth dry. The air tasted like stone and moss with an underlying odour of fresh dirt and something damp. He coughed it out, lungs seizing.

A light flared to life behind him. He arched his back and tilted his head to see what it was, eyes rolling. There was a little barred window chipped into the stone, and behind that was candlelight, flickering against it, descending with the even rhythm of stone steps. He tried to catch his breath, dry tongue escaping to pass along chapped lips. The light was coming for a very long time; each passing minute drew out until it was a thin sliver under the door. Then the rattle of keys sounding against each other. This also took a very long time. Tam felt sweat rolling down the back of his neck, prickling at his armpits and behind his knees. He pulled down hard on his hands — maybe they would slip free — but nothing happened except bruising of soft flesh as it rammed into metal. He did it again, anyway, just to be contrary, and then again, because he couldn't stop. The door swung open with patient stillness, and the man with the candle came in. Tam twisted against his restraints, trying to get a good look and instead seeing in sections — hair, hands, candle, light, upside-down.

The man came across the room and sat down opposite him at a low desk, the candlelight dancing across the room and then settling, blooming out against the dark. If Tam strained upwards, lifting his head up above his shoulders, he could see things on the table — his things. First, the pin from his mouth — his tongue quested to where it had been as if it might still be there — then his belt knife and the flat knife from his sleeve, his sword, then his coin purse with the coins laid out in order of size. Some of them had blood on them. Beyond that, his shoes, the scroll and pen he used to scribble maps and notes on, laid flat, and the apple he had been going to eat after a job well done.

"Prince Kae is dead," the man said. Tam could only see him with his head laid flat if he looked straight down the bridge of his nose, and it strained his eyes to do so. But even so he could take in a brief idea of what he looked like. He was short and thin, with dark hair and a finely bladed nose over a stern mouth. He looked more like a boy than a man in stature, but Tam could see from the measure of his dark eyes and the set of his mouth that it belied his true age. He was wearing a thin and fine over robe embroidered with gold over a stiff linen shirt and trousers, his legs elegantly crossed at the ankle and pulled to the leg of the chair. There was a precision and economy of movement that told him that he was no less than very experienced. Tam held his tongue, which was an effort that deserved praise. Everyone had told him that he talked too much. This didn't seem to perturb the man, who stood instead and began to go through Tam's things, picking them up and holding them to the light and putting them down again.

"Prince Kae?" Tam said, and then damned himself, sweeping his eyes up and towards the stone ceiling, where moss was growing with water beading on its fringes. If he had been free he would have been up there licking the water off. His tongue felt cleaved to the roof of his mouth. A shadow swept over him — the man was close. Tam tried to get away, pulling once more at the cuffs that bound his hands and grunting at the answering pain. The man clicked his tongue in disapproval, reaching out to seize one of Tam's hands and pull it straight, turning it this way and that like it was one of his things. His hands were warm — too warm — against Tam's skin, feeling like a burning brand. He tried to pull his hand away but the man increased his grip. He couldn't find any leverage.

"Yes, Prince Kae," he said. "Not what you were expecting, is it?" Tam frowned. Could he have — was it possible to have made such a mistake? He searched his head for his last memory. The man released his hand and Tam pulled it away, hunkering it down into the cuff as best he could. He began walking around the table, his shadow rising and falling. "Don't give yourself too much credit," he said. "He was executed this morning for treason against the crown." He walked out of view again.

Tam nodded feverishly. That would have been popular. His last memory was of warmth — coming in from the cold and breathing deep of the smell of baking bread. That was it. He blinked, then closed his eyes hard, trying to fish up any further thoughts. All that came was the memory of his hand closed around the hilt of his knife, and that could be from anywhere. He felt something sharp prick at his forehead and opened his eyes again. The man had medium length fingernails, filed to a point, and two of those were digging into his hairline, the sharp pressure causing him to wince.

"Pay attention when I'm speaking," the man said. He was still walking around, back and forth, and Tam found it dizzying, still trying to keep track with his eyes. He tried to pull his legs apart and found no give against the metal, feeling its chill through his stockings. "Stop that," the man said.

"Or what?" Tam said, before he could bite his tongue.

"Is that the tone you want to take?" he said.

"Yes," Tam said. He wasn't afraid of this small man in his fancy robe with his — pain exploded over his jaw and mouth, three big stars of pain burning into his flesh and then something behind it, hard knots impacting. He tried to pull his hands down to shield his face, which just created another wave of agony, cresting over his body and dizzying him, his eyes rolling up as his lip split and blood slipped into his mouth. He opened his mouth. The man was standing next to him, adjusting the rings carefully spaced on his fingers. So that was what had hit him. He couldn't help poking out his tongue and pressing against the cut, causing a little wet spike of sensation.

"Who hired you?" the man said.

"Hired me?" Tam said, tasting the sting of blood in his teeth with both words. He could feel wetness on his palms too, and closed his hand over it. When the man left, he could use it to try and slip free of the cuffs. Then the feet — there had to be something to break his feet out within reach. Table — walls — bookcase. Nothing. The entire plan was a bust anyway, because then the man went to the shelf and brought back three things; a phial of some kind of liquid, a bandage, and scissors. He uncurled Tam's rebellious hand and dabbed at it with the bandage, spilling some cold liquid over the wound that stung and settled in his skin. "What are you doing?" he said.

"An artist likes to start with a blank canvas," the man said, snipping off the bandage neatly with the scissors. Whatever had been in the phial had been some kind of antiseptic; Tam recognised the herbs in the smell, but there was something else in there, something sharp-smelling that made it sting, the sensation flaring in hot waves down his hand and wrist. It felt like boiling water washing down his arm. He bit his lip and grunted, teeth dragging over the split there. The man was out of view again. Tam could see the shimmer of candlelight on the golden fabric in between the embroidered flowers and leaves. He turned back, the scissors still in hand. They had a ugly silver shine to the blade. He pressed the flat of the blade to Tam's cheek, and Tam flinched away. It was as cold as if it had been against ice for hours. He could see his breath fogging the blade and the warped reflection of the colour of his skin. "Are you going to talk to me now?" he said, rolling the blade along Tam's lip and pressing the flat of it down into the cut. It was a dull, wide pressure that made him squirm, bumping the heel of his hand down into the cuff again. That made the wavy, hot sensation travel down his arm and he grunted as the man lifted the scissors away from his face. He could see his own blood on the blade.

"No one hired me," he said. He couldn't draw breath properly, his chest fluttering. The man smiled, but it was a crooked smile, almost pitying. He put the point of the scissors on Tam's chin and drew them down his neck, the touch of metal feather-soft and raising gooseflesh. He pivoted them and sliced into the fabric of Tam's shirt, making a sure, straight line down his chest and onto his belly, the press of the metal deliberate. Tam went as still as he could manage, his chest still flaring with breath as the man turned the scissors and came back up, along first the right sleeve, taking a moment at the top of his hand to press the dull of the blade into the bandaged scrapes and scratches. He tried to push his arm up to get away, but the blade followed. He tried to pull his hand down, but it wedged deep into the cuff again, whatever poison was in the wound springing to life, like when he had played the child's game of brushing your hand through the campfire as fast as possible. The man was pulling off the shredded remains of his shirt from underneath him, and Tam had to move to allow him, the soft, well-worn fabric slipping away and leaving his back naked against cold, unyielding wood, his nipples pebbling against the frigid air.

"I suppose you won't be getting paid," the man said. "I've never seen such an incompetent assassination attempt." Tam flushed, but managed to bite his tongue to cut off the retort. The man raised an eyebrow. "There's really no point," he said. "I'll find out one way or another."

"You won't," Tam said, unable to hold his tongue. "It's not like I haven't been tortured before."

"Oh?" the man said, and suddenly he was very close, the sheer fabric of his robe breathing over Tam's side, his face directly above Tam's so that he could see his dark eyes and the new, arrogant curl to his mouth. "Have you? I suppose you've managed to hold out against every type of blunt thuggery thrown at you. I suppose you feel quite proud of that. Did they hang you from the roof and hit you in the stomach?" His hand landed on Tam's stomach, his sharp nails digging in. Tam tried to twist away, but the man leaned down with his hand until the needlepoint pain began to twist down. He scraped his hand away, leaving fine red marks but unbroken skin. "Did they whip you? Cut you?" The hand drifted up to his chest, leaving scraping red marks in its wake until it stopped right at the edge of his areole. Tam's breath caught and the man looked up and down between his face and his chest, his eyes now aflame with a paroxysm of interest.

"They — "

"No," the man said, seizing on his nipple and twisting the nub of it hard, keeping it pinched between his fingers as the nails scraped against sensitive flesh. Tam writhed as much as he could, sliding against sweat-slicked wood as the sensation flared, his teeth clenching. "Don't tell me. I want to figure it out for myself." Then he released Tam's flesh, the resulting wash of relief making him shiver up and down, muscles jumping and twitching randomly as he panted. The man's warm hand was still on him, idly drifting up to Tam's lips, where he rested the edge of his nail in the cut on his bottom lip. Tam went as still as possible, not sure what the man wanted, not sure what to do to spare himself further pain. The pressure on the cut increased incrementally until blood swelled again, running in twin tears down his chin and up into his mouth. The man pressed on the cut with his thumb, sliding the blood both ways across Tam's bottom lip, then withdrew, carefully putting his thumb to his mouth. Tam could see the pink flick of his tongue as he tasted it, and he had to turn away, nausea and pain rolling in his stomach. "Hm," the man said, and proffered nothing further, turning to pick up the candle and exiting with a swift turn, the gossamer of his robe flaring out behind him.

"Wait," Tam said, the syllable stretching the cut on his lip. The man didn't turn or hesitate, and exited without a word, the heavy door heaving shut behind him. He heard the rattle of keys, then the shush of well-worn shoes ascending stone steps, and he was left in darkness again, with only the soft, wet throb of his swelling lip to keep him company.

 

*

 

He woke after a time, unsure if he had slept in the darkness. His lip ached, a slow beat in counterpoint with his heart. Whatever was on his hand was still rolling down his arm, like it was trying to sink down to his bones and peel away his skin. He shivered, his chest still exposed to the air. Something was touching his face — water from the moss he had seen in the candlelight. He licked for it, ignoring the twinge, but the droplet rolled up instead and then down his cheek and into his ear, the chill water settling. He shivered again, but this time it was a whole body shiver. Another droplet dripped onto his forehead, travelling back into his hair and making its slow way back down through his hair and onto his neck. There was no way to tell how much time had passed. Someone would come back for him. Surely. But for now he was left alone with his thoughts and his lack of memories. Thinking back on them didn't reveal anything new. He had tried to kill Crown Prince Aris — or at least, that had been his intention when he had entered the castle. The back of his head still hurt.

Light — soft light in the little window. He strained upwards towards it again, blinking water out of his eyes as another drop landed right on the bridge of his nose. He couldn't help trying to move towards that light. It stayed at the top of the stairs this time, hovering, and he could hear voices, one quiet, the other louder, reverberating down the steps. Something about _hurrying up_ and _promises_. The light bobbed down a few steps and the voices came through more clearly. The deeper voice said, "This is your last chance, Lois," and the man — or who Tam had been thinking of as "the man" — said, "Yes, I know." One heavy set of footsteps went up. One light set of footsteps came down. Tam wildly tried to think of a plan. He would pretend to sleep, and then when the man — Lois — came close, Tam would bite his nose off. He closed his eyes, listened to the footsteps, the keys, the lock and door opening, then Lois's quiet step.

"I know you're awake," he said. Tam opened one eye, and then the other. The light of the candle was soft, but it still stung his eyes. His mouth was dry and eyes bleary. Lois looked much the same as he had yesterday — Tam hoped it had been yesterday — but the robe he wore was purple and stitched with a black design. He rolled the sleeves of his white shirt up to his elbow. Tam knew that gesture meant _time to get to work_ but it made him recalcitrant, pushing forward against the metal on his wrists.

"There’s nothing you can do to me that hasn’t been done to me before," he said.

Lois carefully finished rolling up his sleeves, leaving a crisp edge against his skin. "Not quite," he said. "I can do some things to you that haven’t been done at all." Then he smiled, and that smile made Tam’s insides clench. It cut across his face, half-crooked, exposing the sharpness of his canine and drawing a dimple at the corner of his lips. Lois turned away again, back to Tam’s things, and picked up Tam’s knife, holding it up to the candlelight. "Is this what you were going to use to do it?" he said. "Seems a little crude."

"It’s a knife," Tam said. "Haven’t you seen a knife before? Do your servants to cut up all your food for you?"

Lois chuckled, and it was a deep-throated chuckle, something low but far from genuine. "I’ve seen a knife," he said. "But I prefer mine to be a little more elegant. Would you like to see?" Tam wasn’t sure if he had a choice, so he didn’t speak, instead trying to wet his lip with a dry tongue. "No matter," Lois said. "There’s plenty of time."

"I have nothing to tell you," Tam said.

"Not yet."

"Not at all."

"You think you won’t think of something even when I’m almost done with you?" Lois said, and his voice was so mild he might have been thinking about the price of fruit at the market – no, not with that aristocratic tone backing each inflection of his tongue. Tam didn’t think aristocrats generally ended up elbow deep in blood in the bowels of the palace. Unless they had a taste for it, and it needed to be directed constructively. He swallowed and heard his throat click.

"I could use some water," he said. Lois turned away from the table and back towards him, the thin silk weave of his robe fluttering with the movement.

"But you haven’t even done anything for me yet," he said. "I thought it was turnabout."

"I’m not going to do anything for you," Tam said.

"I suppose if you’re going to talk you can’t do it with a dry throat," Lois said, and there was a sparkle in his eye that made Tam’s stomach dip again. It was worse than a constructive direction. Lois was enjoying this. Two steps away from the table with Tam’s things was a shelf hewn into the rock, where there was a tall metal jug and glasses. Lois hefted the jug with little effort and poured two glasses before coming back, lifting the first glass to his lips and taking a small sip, raising his eyebrows over the rim of the cup at Tam.

"Enough theatrics," Tam said.

"Of course," he replied. "I could, of course, be a much more gracious host. How are you enjoying your stay? Is there anything I could do? Another pillow?"

"Stop it."

"It’s not where my talents lie, but I’m sure I can make you much more comfortable," Lois said, waving a hand expressively so that water slopped over the edge of the cup, a few freezing drops landing on Tam’s exposed stomach. "After all, the more comfortable you are, the easier it is to make you less comfortable. And that _is_ where my talents are."

"Stop talking," Tam said. Lois swung around and put one cup down, approaching Tam slowly with the other. He could see the condensation beading on the outside and couldn’t help licking his lips again, even if the pressure of his tongue made his split lip pulse with pain. Lois reached out with sudden speed and grabbed Tam’s jaw, pulling his mouth open and pouring the water right down his throat. Tam choked, water shooting out of his mouth and couldn’t cough, water sloshing at the back of his throat. He tried to swallow, his eyes watering, feeling it spill out of the sides of his mouth and down under his back, swallowing until he was able to get about half a mouthful into his stomach. Lois was leaning back, eyes bright with mirth.

"What a mess," he said. "No wonder you couldn’t land a strike on Crown Prince Aris."

Tam was too busy coughing to respond, eyes leaking water he could ill afford to lose. Finally, he managed to get out a few words. "You saw it?"

"Saw what?"

"You saw what I did?"

"You don’t remember?"

"No."

Lois smiled that awful crooked smile again. Tam expected him to have blood in his teeth. "Oh, I saw it," he said. "You know, Crown Prince Aris has survived five assassination attempts this year alone."

"Six," Tam said.

"Five."

"You counted me already?"

"No," Lois said. "I wouldn’t call what you did ‘assassination’. Or, to be perfectly honest, an ‘attempt’." Tam frowned. Surely it hadn’t been that bad? If he’d gotten to Crown Prince Aris, enough to do – something – then he would have had to make it past all the guards and the servants, up through the gates of the palace and into the dining hall. What had he done then? Tripped on his own feet and landed on his head? He squirmed a little at the thought. Lois had left him to his thinking, coming back with Tam’s knife. "Maybe your knife remembers better than you do," he said. Tam went very still, trying to control his breathing as Lois spun the knife casually around in his hand, looking Tam up and down.

"I don’t work for anybody," he said.

"Of course not," Lois said. "You, a trained assassin, decided to come into the palace of your own free will and murder Crown Prince Aris just for something to do."

"That’s pretty much right," Tam said.

Lois scoffed. "You’re as bad at lying as you are at killing." He tapped the flat of the knife against Tam’s upper thigh with the air of a schoolyard admonishment. Tam flinched at the chill of the metal through the fabric of his pants. Lois tutted, drawing the point of the knife up to prick against Tam’s thigh and then drawing it up and then back down, travelling a sharp path to his ankle, then sliding it up under the cuff of the pants and cutting through. He had to grab at the cuff to keep the fabric taut, the brush of his hands hot through Tam’s stocking, like Lois’s heart was racing with joy. Tam closed his eyes and turned away. He felt the knife travel upwards, fabric ripping and exposing more and more of his skin to the cold until he was guarded only by his stockings. That’s where Lois was going, hooking his hot fingers around the top of them and drawing them down and off Tam’s feet. He curled his toes against the cold air, the flesh of his feet feeling damp with sweat and chilled in the cold air.

"How cute," Lois said, and then reached out and drew the sharp point of the knife from the top of Tam’s foot to the bottom of the heel, not even hard enough to indent the skin. Tam yelped, trying to draw his feet up to his body, but that just slammed the top of his feet into the metal bindings, bruising them mercilessly. He was caught between sensations, his body telling him to curl up, but the table keeping him stretched out. Lois was looking down at him, something beatific in his eyes. He turned and put down the knife, and went to the wall instead, looking all around. Tam followed his gaze and saw what had been hidden in the darkness before. The stone walls hung with all kinds of things, each a solid shape against the shadows in the dark, some metallic, but glinting in the light just enough to be seen. He could not tell what most of them were, but he recognised something like a pincer, something like a fork and then had to stop squinting to try and make out shapes. Lois was selecting something that looked like a thin rod, and Tam relaxed a little. It was about the least intimidating thing on the wall from what he could tell.

"Last chance to tell the truth," Lois said, idly tapping the end of the rod against his palm.

"I already told you the truth."

"I don’t know what you’re trying to gain by being obstinate," Lois said. "Do you think I _want_ you to tell me what you know? Do you genuinely think that?"

"Wh — "

Lois reached up and brought the thin cane down on the sole of Tam’s foot. At first he was buoyed by the weak and insubstantial impact. This was the best Lois could do? His thoughts were interrupted by the feeling growing and growing until just that small stripe was overwhelming, rolling over him with sharp, stinging needles pressing into his flesh. He closed his eyes so tight he saw stars behind them, but when he opened them he saw Lois drawing his arm up again for a second strike.

"No," Tam said, but there was no breath in his lungs to push the word out. Lois swung his arm down again. Tam heard the whoosh of air, the snap of the impact on his foot right above the first strike and then the sharp, rolling pain crested over him again like a thousand individual needles pressing into his calves. Lois followed it up with a third strike and then a fourth, until Tam’s world narrowed down into the elements of each strike: the sound of the cane in the air, the flare of Lois’s jacket with the movement, then the blow. He always heard it before he felt a single thing, either the impact itself or the pain that followed, until his legs were juddering and his palms were marked by the edges of his nails. He could feel the sweat pouring off his skin, especially under his hair even though he was cold. He was shaking. His feet were mincemeat. Lois was sitting by him on a little stool, and he reached out and put his warm hand on Tam’s ankle. His touch was another wave of sensation, completely unable to be processed.

"That was fine, wasn’t it," Lois said, tapping at Tam’s calf with his thumb. Each tap made the muscle jump. He almost couldn’t feel it. "It absolutely could not get any worse than that."

"Uh," Tam said. He had meant it to be some kind of witty retort, but what had come out was decidedly less so. It felt like Lois was still hitting him. He tried to curl his feet up to protect them, but that just made it worse, each line where the cane had hit him returning to new life. Shrinking back – he pulled his feet up and grazed the bruise on his hand against the top of the restraint again. It didn’t matter which way he tried to move. It was all impeded and it all caused pain.

"So," Lois said, and his tone was entreating, even though every now and then he couldn’t stop himself from leaning around every now and then to take a glance at the bottom of Tam’s feet. "Are you ready now?"

"There’s nothing to tell," Tam said.

"All right," Lois said, quite happily. He turned to look at everything that was behind him on the walls. The candlelight shifted and guttered, casting wild, sharp shapes in shadow. Tam groaned and turned his head away. Lois tutted. "You’ve only had one helping and you’re already full?"

"I’m not as full of it as you are," he said. Lois stood and went down to Tam’s feet, sweeping his hand around the edge of the table and then perilously close to Tam’s skin; close enough that he could feel the shift of air against his flesh. Nails were close enough to feel their point against his wounds even though they never actually touched.

"I’m not sure why you think it’s a good idea to talk to me like that," Lois said. Tam didn’t have an answer for that, because he also wasn’t sure. It just sprang to him unbidden like it always had. That was why he was better with a weapon in his hand and his mouth shut. Lois picked up the knife again and resumed cutting off Tam’s pants, sliding all the way up to the waistband, but careful to leave his smallclothes intact. It was a deft hand, he had to admit, even though each press of the knife seemed to take it right to the edge of cutting into his flesh. He knew it was deliberate but that didn’t make him feel any more at ease.

"Aren’t you going to dress my feet?"

"Dress?" Lois said. "You want me to put your shoes back on?"

"No," Tam said. "I mean the – there must be blood."

"No," Lois said. Tam tried to twist his feet up to see the sole, stretching the skin painfully and making him hiss. "Can’t you take my word for it?"

"No."

Lois moved with frightening speed, striding back up to Tam’s face and seizing his jaw again and pulling his head to make close eye contact. He could feel the sharp blades of his nails pressing into his jawbone, and the shock of it brought tears to his eyes. "Let me make one thing perfectly clear," he said, and although his tone was quiet, he could feel Lois’s breath against his cheek, and each word had a certain heaviness to it. "I will not lie to you. I have not lied to you. There is only one liar in this room, and it is you." Tam spat in Lois’s face, hitting him square under the eye. It sparked a fire against Lois, light rising to his eyes even as the wet spittle slid gently down his face. The grip on his jaw tightened even further, until he was sure the razor edge of Lois’s nails were cutting into his flesh. "You’re just proving my point," he said. "If I send you back alive, tell them to send someone more competent." He let go of Tam’s jaw, pulling the remnants of his pants out from under him, leaving him shivering in his smallclothes. From his pocket he retrieved a plain white handkerchief, generously embroidered with flowers in the corners and wiped clean his face with a deliberate slowness. "Now you have nothing left to bargain with," he said. "Not even my goodwill."

Tam swallowed carefully. His body was still telling him to move, like an animal caught in a trap. He turned his head away and closed his eyes. Lois made a little noise, like a hum, and Tam heard him step away, the tuneless sound following him. Something in him, very small, told him if he stayed still and kept his eyes closed, the threat might pass and he would be safe again.

"Are you still thirsty?"

"What?" Tam said, his voice like a dull rasp.

"Are you," Lois said, "still thirsty?" Tam bit his tongue, carefully. Saying yes was wrong. Saying no was also wrong. Saying nothing was, again, wrong. He opened his eyes instead. Lois was holding not a water glass but another small silver phial. "Open up," he said. Tam shook his head, gritting his teeth as hard as he could. Lois sighed. "You really have no concept of self-preservation, do you?" He reached out and pinched Tam's nose shut with no regard for his shaking head. Tam tried to pull free, but there was nowhere to go. Trying to inhale just made Lois pinch harder until he had to open his mouth, gasping hard, his chest surging as Lois poured the contents of the phial down his throat. It was bitter and pungent and he choked on it, but Lois clamped his hand over Tam's mouth until he swallowed it all.

"What was that?" Tam said, coughing and sucking in great breaths interchangeably.

"You'll see," Lois said. "It's usually just me down here, so I like to practice my hobbies. It's a diversion, really, just to pass the time while I wait to be called upon. Most of the books on these things were written by old men with no imagination."

"What things?"

"Poisons, of course," Lois said, as one might say _flower arranging_ or _tea service_.

"What?" Tam said. His stomach clenched so hard that he cried out, a hot stone dropping down into his stomach and pulsing there.

"Don't be ridiculous," Lois said. "It's not _deadly_ poison. Why would I kill you now? You haven't thought this through at all."

"Hurts," Tam said, feeling new beads of sweat roll down over the dried remains of old over the back of his neck.

"No, it doesn't," Lois said. "That's just your mind telling you it should hurt because I said 'poison'. I thought you'd have more self-discipline. Haven't you ever had to wait in the dark for hours for your quarry? I suppose I should have used a nicer word."

Tam was only half-listening. The heat in his gut was building, burning hot with terrible cramps. His mind began to recede from the pain. It swelled in time with his breath and began to overtake the rest of his limbs, radiating like a sun from his center. Tam's breath hissed through his teeth. "Make it stop," he said.

"No," Lois said, drawing up the stool with his foot and sitting down again, propping his elbow on the table and his chin on his hand. "Not just because I can't, but in a moment you won't want me to."

"What?" Tam said, but it came out like a hushed breath as the heat reached its peak, rolling down to his feet and up over his head at once, like plunging into a hot pool. He groaned and curled his toes, then gasped as something flared in them as a response, something — he couldn't tell what it was, the sensations mixing until his body was thrumming with it. Lois was leaning close again, and Tam turned his eyes to him, watching his nostrils flare like he was scenting fear. "What is this?"

"Hm," Lois said, and reached out and pressed the nail of his index finger into Tam's bicep, hard, raking it down to the juncture of his elbow. Tam hissed with pain and tried to pull away, but Lois grabbed onto him and held him hard. Slowly, the sharp sensation — the pain — no, it felt like something else. It felt good, and he inhaled a shaky breath, his mouth falling open and tongue lying lax.

"What?" he said.

"Is that all you can say?" Lois said, absently thumbing at the raised red line on Tam's bicep. "Never mind I'm not interested in conversation." He flicked at the line, sharply, and then scratched another one next to it, this one longer. Tam couldn't help making a noise, it just — it felt — it felt good, a sudden pleasure that peaked and then dissipated. He stretched his legs, curling his toes and it came from there too. His thighs felt hot and heavy, and he couldn't help shifting them, closing his hands and pressing his fingers into the scrape there. He moaned at the pressure, and realised he was getting hard. He tried to turn to hide it, but there was nowhere to go, the movement obvious to Lois, who was smiling down at him. "Does that feel good?"

Tam couldn't answer; his tongue felt hot and fat in his mouth, unable to shape words. His brain was burning with a similar fire to the needles of pain he had felt before but turned inwards and hot, his eyes rolling back. Each time he pulled down on the manacles above him his imagination would flare. He thought Lois might take him down and fuck him over the table on top of his knives. Lois would probably be quiet about it, simply thrusting into him at an unrelenting pace, oblivious to how it pushed him against the blades. Or he might put Tam on his knees and shove his cock down his throat until he couldn't breathe, each painful inhalation met with pleasure. Maybe he would take hours to come, just using his throat until the ache of it would make Tam come untouched.

"What are you thinking about?" Lois said, very quietly. "You're working yourself into such a state."

"Fuck me," Tam said.

"No," Lois said, but he did put all four points of his nails against Tam's arm again, and there was something amused in the promise of it.

"Why not?"

"Well," he said, "firstly, you haven't done anything to deserve it. And, secondly, you wouldn't like it."

Tam pulled at his bonds until his muscles were beyond the point of pain, arching his back and pushing his hips up until he thought the wood and metal of the table might creak. The strain felt just as good as someone clutching his cock. He was so hard that he felt any movement against it would bring him off, but Lois wasn't making any move, because he hadn't done anything to deserve it. Did that mean that if Tam just spoke — just said something Lois wanted to hear that he would do it? He would unlock Tam's legs and push his knees up to his chest before pressing into him roughly, without a care, moving and twisting Tam's body to suit Lois's own pleasure with no regard as to the strain in his back or the stretch of muscles in his thighs and when he spent inside him he would just lock him back up with no regard to Tam's straining cock. He panted, wet, his mouth slick with spit and fell back down, body splaying loose against the cold, unyielding wood.

"You're going to hurt yourself," Lois said.

"Isn't that the idea?"

"No," he said. His scissors were in his hand again. "I suppose I might as well see what's what." Tam could feel blood rolling down his chin from where he had bit open his lip again, and he couldn't stop probing at it with his tongue. Scissors were better than knife. Scissors were better — no, scissors couldn't — the edge was too dull. Lois put them against his thigh and Tam rolled his hips up into the cold press, hoping to find some sting beyond the temperature. "Careful," he said, and then closed the scissors on Tam's smallclothes, effortlessly cleaving the fabric. He did the other side, too, admonishing Tam with a simple tap when he tried to press up into the metal again. "Be patient," he said. "You're getting what you want." He pulled the fabric free, exposing Tam's cock to the cool air, and then stepping away, tilting his head. Tam groaned, sliding his thighs on the wood, hoping to find some splinter, any jagged edge of wood. It wasn't enough to keep pressing at his lip and pulling at his hands. He needed more.

"I'm — "

Lois cocked his head. "Where's the rest of it?"

"Wh — what?"

"Is that all?" he said, and he was smiling that crooked smile again. Tam cringed, feeling his insides roil. His whole abdomen was clenching. "How do you even fuck with that? No, don't tell me. Let me imagine." He braced his hand on the table and lifted a leg, resting his knee on the meat of Tam's thigh and pressing his weight down onto it. "I can picture it. You're all warm and wet in heaven and she's on top." He started rhythmically pressing all his weight down on his knee. Tam groaned at the crux of the pressure, intertwined with the weird, stinging pain of Lois's words. He was — he had always thought — it wasn't — "and then she says" — He was affecting a high, breathy voice, cocking his hip and pressing down with all his weight. "' _Oh, Tam, put it in, I'm ready!_ ' And you have to tell her that you _are_ in, and she can't even feel it."

"Shut up," Tam said. His face was so red he had to turn and hide it against the crook of his elbow.

"You want me to stop?" Lois said. "Look how hard you are, getting what you're asking for." The drug was spinning his brain; the crueler Lois was, the harder he was getting, cock wetting his stomach with more precome with each word. "Oh, you're so wet. Do you always get like this? The village girl probably thought you were a girl too, just enough to rub herself off on before finding someone else."

"Shut up!" Tam said, and it came out as a strangled wail as Lois reached forward and drew the pad of his finger down from the head of Tam's cock down to the base and what came with that gentle touch was a pain so intense it felt like he was being eviscerated; that made him bang his head hard against the wood just to have a counterpoint of sensation, his limbs shaking as he cried out so loud his voice cracked. "Stop," he begged. "Stop, stop."

"Stop?" Lois said. "But this is what you wanted. Well, not quite. I can see why you said you wanted me to fuck you and not vice versa, though." He wrapped his wet hand around Tam's cock and slowly began to jerk him off, each gentle swipe feeling like he was being sliced to pieces until he was sure that if he looked down he would see nothing but blood and viscera. When he _did_ look down all he could see was a hand on his cock, moving with excruciating slowness and that made him harder which made everything hurt more which felt good until he could not move except to breathe. His toes curled so hard that his feet were cramping, tongue wet and thick in his mouth, vision grey and dancing with stars. When he came back to himself he was still hard, his belly wet. Lois was looking down at him with a reflected hunger in his eyes. Tam didn't know what for. He couldn't tell if Lois was hard in the shadows. That was something that the back of his mind knew could be useful to escape, even though the front was currently too busy boiling to form a thought.

"You know what I would do?" Lois said, and he was clearly expecting an answer, because he caught Tam's gaze with his own and would not let it go. Tam shook his head. "Well, I wouldn't have ended up here in the first place. If I wanted someone dead, then they'd be dead. So that's pretty simple." He was spinning something metal in his hands, quick enough that Tam couldn't get a look at it. He turned away. "No, no," Lois said. "I wasn't finished." Tam found the strength to roll his head back around on his neck. "What I would have done," he said, "is bear what feels like pain as best I could, because I know the potion doesn't last too long, and then pretend to still be in pain while I got stroked off. Do you want to try that?"

"What?" Tam said. "No, don't."

Lois was touching his stomach then, first with his fingers, then letting something cold and metal rest there in their place. "Are you sure?" he said. "It's probably half worn off by now." He reached out and tapped a finger on the head of Tam's cock, gently, but it felt like a blow; an open-handed smack. Lois was right, though, because the sensations were mixing again, pleasure overtaking the pain with a deep spike that made him moan aloud. "I said pretend," he said, pinching gently at Tam's foreskin. That sparked a hot, rolling sensation that felt just like Lois had leaned over and laved over the head of Tam's cock with his tongue, rolling it wetly in and out of his mouth over and over, but it began to fade and surge with that cold pain again. Tam felt cross-eyed, his breath coming shallow and fast as he panted, open mouthed. Lois was starting to stroke him again, as promised, with an excruciatingly slow movement, taking his time to acquaint himself with every inch of Tam's cock with a wet hand, so slowly that the sensation began to mix again until he could not tell whether it was painful or pleasurable, even when Lois began to tighten his grip incrementally, sliding his fingers all the way up until his hand was almost free. Tam had to push his hips up to get him to slide back down, until he was dizzy with it and all the pain was melting away, leaving only the slick, wet tightness of Lois's hand to thrust into, his thighs quivering with the effort as Lois brought his hand to a halt but allowed Tam to keep moving, driving his hips up at a relentless pace, the backs of his thighs and ass dull with bruises when he brought them back down.

"Fuck me," he said, forcing it out between gasps.

"I thought you wanted me to stop," Lois said, slowly beginning to uncurl his hand.

"No, don't, please," Tam said. "Please, fuck me. Please."

"I will," Lois said, and clenched his hand tight to the point of squeezing. Tam moaned, twisting his hips as best he could. Lois bent closer to him, face dark in the shadows. "Do you know how close I came to breaking you? I thought you'd be more resilient, but it's almost like you want to break. I wouldn't even have to keep you chained up. You'd stay here of your own volition. I'd have to plug up your ass just to keep your fingers out of it while you begged for my attention. Is that what you want?"

Tam turned away. He could feel his peak building through the backs of his thighs, the muscles tensing. He pushed up into Lois's grip once more, his orgasm approaching rapidly, building on everything he was saying, the downwards rush of shame somehow making it intensify. Did he want that? He looked down again, biting hard at his lips, his hand clenching on nothing as he began to come, crying out as Lois's fingers slid over the sensitive head of his cock.

"I did tell you that you wouldn't like it," Lois said, and hit Tam squarely in the balls, his other hand clenching down hard on his cock. Tam yelled, the sound of his voice bouncing around the walls fading as the pain took over, like a knife shredding up through the core of his body, muscles clenching. It felt like his stomach was being torn apart and he tried to throw up, but there was nothing in his stomach and he spat over the side. He tried to curl up but found himself stuck, pinned to the table like a dying insect. The room was spinning as the pain settled into his stomach and thighs. He had to look down to make sure that he was still intact, seeing his cock lying soft and pathetic against his stomach. Lois reached out to touch it and Tam tried to get away. It no longer mattered that he was chained down, because pulling against it didn't hurt at all, not in comparison to the hot iron growing up through his guts.

"You should have tried harder," Lois said, slipping a metal ring over Tam's soft cock and securing it with a deft touch. "I told you what to do. That was your last chance." Tam rolled his head back on his neck and stretched it up, anything to get away from that sensation. Lois's voice was low and relentless as he moved further up, stroking Tam's sweaty hair away from his face. He felt suddenly chilled, the true temperature of the room prevailing over the heat of his racing heart. Lois was close enough that he could see the whites of his eyes and teeth, smiling down at him in the dark, his hand soft and gentle on his forehead. "Now," he said. "Do you want to talk to me now?" Tam shook his head and Lois moved away. "That's fine," he said. "We can start again tomorrow. This is going to be every day for you."

He turned away briskly and began to put his things in order, washing his hands and then unfolding the sleeves of his shirt and buttoning them again at the cuff. His hands, clean and dry, looked like any ordinary person's hands. There was no trace of anything that he had done to Tam on either of them. Lois could walk out of here, and no one would know what he had done. Tam could feel tears slipping out of his eyes unbidden, and closed them to stop the flow. "Wait," he said.

"Oh?" Lois said. He came back over to Tam at a deliberate measured pace. "Is there something you wanted to say?" He adopted a careful listening pose, and Tam suddenly saw, on the heels of Lois's hands, little red indents from his own nails. Was that how hard he had been squeezing at Tam's cock? He thought he might even have bruises. His cock twitched at the thought and he groaned, trying to push down the idea. It wouldn't hold any satisfaction. "Just that?" Lois said. "Already? I would have thought you'd be sated — perhaps that's the wrong word, considering you couldn't even make yourself come." He stroked at Tam's damp forehead in a parody of soothing. "Take your time."

"No," Tam said.

"No? Is that no for you don't have anything to say to me? Or no, you're not sated? If it's the latter, I suppose I can start again now." He pinched Tam's nipple, then twisted it, pulling at it until it was red and sore, even that ache just becoming part of the harmony of pain his body was in. It must be a residual aspect of the drug because it felt like he might be able to get hard again, the stimulation warming his body and spreading down even though he didn't want it to. "Well?" Lois said, moving his hand across to Tam's left nipple and starting again, the right one still smarting and peaked on his chest.

"Will you let me come?" he said, and almost couldn't believe he had said it, flushing red down his face and onto his chest. Lois responded not with words, but by pulling savagely on Tam's nipple until he had to try and lift off the table to compensate, falling back hard when he was released.

"What do you think?" Lois said. "Rather, do _you_ think you deserve it?"

It didn't really matter what he thought. He knew Lois didn't think he deserved it. "No," he said.

"You've answered your own question. I didn't realise it was so hard for you to answer a simple question. Should I try a different one? When did you first meet Prince Kae?"

"I haven't met Prince Kae," Tam said, without thinking, and then closed his mouth shut with a snap. Lois's eyes were wide and he was smiling, as if he'd just figured out a puzzle.

" _Very_ good," he said, springing backwards. He took a large white sheet from the table and carelessly threw it over Tam's body, reaching to pinch out the candle. Tam made some unintelligible sound as the sheet settled over him, rubbing lightly on his abused nipples and cock. "Don't worry," Lois continued. "I'll reward you tomorrow." It sounded like a threat. When Tam closed his eyes in the dark, more tears squeezed out. He heard the door close and his mind closed with it, drifting off into something between sleep and unconsciousness.

 

 *

 

He woke with a start from the refuge of a dream he could no longer remember. It was still dark, and there was no way to tell how long he had been asleep apart from the mess of dried blood on his chin and in his mouth, along with a bitter aftertaste. He tried to move and cried out with the sensation of dull bruises waking up along with him. There was no point even cataloguing each hurt, because _everything_ hurt from his head down to his toes. There was no point in moving, either, because he could still feel the weight of metal against his arms and legs. He had always prided himself about being able to wiggle out of any situation, either figuratively or literally with a quick word to the right person or a sneaky escape, but there didn't seem to be an out. Lois would laugh off his threats, mock any persuasion or seduction — he couldn't think about that.

Just the movement of the sheet against his nipples with each breath was making him half hard, even with the warm weight of metal encircling him. Lois's words _you won't like it_ were echoing in his ears, and he gave into the sick feeling in his stomach, hot tears spilling out and down the sides of his face, sobs wracking his body until they hurt too much and he quelled them, along with the wet sound that seemed to echo.

He pulled himself together as best he could. At least there was this time alone, although it was more anticipatory than anything else, the dread building in his stomach as thoughts of what other punishments Lois might deign to inflict on him flitted through his head. He tried to measure his breathing. As long as he wasn't drugged again, there was some self-control that he should be able to retain. It was easy to think that in the dark. In the light, when Lois moved close and smiled like a predator scenting blood, it made it very difficult to think clearly. Or when he — or if he — no. Tam refused to allow himself to think in that direction, because it just made his cock get harder. He closed his eyes,breathed deeply and tried to think of cold things.

When he opened them again, gaze darting around in the darkness, he noticed a dull glow against the wall. He tensed without thinking, and waited. It was a round little dart of light, and as he watched it flared to life and then faded again and he heard the exhale that followed, smelling spicy smoke. His heart jumped forward in his chest and he made the mistake of biting at his lip, feeling the shift of dried blood under his teeth. "Lois?" he said, and it sounded so plaintive he wanted to snatch it back. There was a disembodied chuckle as a response, that same, unfortunately familiar, throaty laugh.

"I like the way you said my name," he said. "You sounded just like a lost child crying for his mother."

"You're sick," Tam said. "That's why they put you down here."

Lois laughed. "Is that why? I've been wondering." He got up; Tam heard the scrape of the chair against the stone and watched the dot of the cigarette move closer. "It's nice of you to say so, but it's not true."

"You don't think you're sick?" Tam spat. "After what you've — "

"No," Lois said, cooly undercutting him. "I meant that you think I needed someone to put me down here at all."

Tam squirmed with discomfort, the wood of the table giving an answering shiver as the sheet slipped down over his nipples and he grunted.

"Stop wiggling," Lois said. "What do you think I have planned for you?"

"I don't know," Tam said.

"It's probably something terribly _sick_ ," he said. "Maybe I've brought my ten biggest friends from the Princeguard to have you one after the other."

Tam snorted. "Well, I don't believe that."

"Oh?" Lois said, and he was getting closer and closer now. "Is it because that wouldn't even be a punishment for you? You'd enjoy it?"

"No," Tam said. ""It's because I don't believe you have any friends."

"Well, that's just hurtful." He was moving again, in the dark, and now his movements were accompanied by a heavy clink. "Stay still," he said, through lips clamped around his cigarette. "I wouldn't want to slip in the dark." Tam went still, feeling the first link of heavy metal chain land against his neck and then go around and upwards, until it was lying against the length of his arms, looping around.

"What are you doing?" Tam said, his voice stressed by the weight around his neck.

"This is your reward," Lois said, and Tam could smell the fragrant smoke drifting along with his words.

"This isn't a reward."

"I liked you more when you were begging for me to fuck you," Lois said, and he said it so casually that it made Tam flush against the cold weight of metal. He spent some time attaching a cuff to Tam's ankle, and then stood, flicking the cigarette to the ground and striking a match in its place, Tam cringing away from the sudden light. There was a large metal tub next to his table, filled with gently steaming water and, absurdly, decorated with floating flower petals. For some reason that detail made him more uneasy than much of what Lois had said. That thought fell away as he heard a distinctive _chunk_ noise from underneath and the binding over his hands flipped up and away. Tam gasped, pulling himself up and away from the wood below him, muscles straining and screaming with the sudden shift. His ascent came to an abrupt halt as Lois deftly finished what he was doing with the chain that drew tight around Tam's neck. He made a little sound, choked-off by lack of air. Bringing his hands down from above hurt more than any sitting up could, the muscles feeling like they were shredding apart. He scrabbled at the chain, unable to even drag the links away from his skin or force a finger underneath. He was wheezing, air unable to breach his throat. He tried to pull at the chains with more force.

"You're eager," Lois said, and did something behind him, the grip of the chain easing. Tam gasped for breath, wheezing and bent forward over his thighs. The sheet settled against his oversensitive cock, rough and scratching over his skin. He tried to will it to go soft, imagining Lois's mocking face when the sheet was pulled away. In the light he could see him out of the corner of his eye. Today he was wearing a light purple robe with green flowers stitched onto it and another crisp white shirt and dark pants with soft leather shoes. His dark hair shone with the light, and his eyes were cast down onto the bath as he waited for Tam. "Don't you want your reward?"

Tam turned, finding his feet free too, and carefully put them on the cold ground, the soles of his feet sensitive and tender, each line from the cane shocked by the cold. Lois turned away to pick up something and Tam burst into action, taking one running step towards the door and then another, before encountering resistance, the chain around his ankle tugging insistently. Lois was still turned away so he bent to try and pull at it, but the chain around his wrists didn't allow him to move his hands lower than his chest without pulling the one around his neck taut.

"Did you really think I wouldn't notice?" Lois said. "Even with my back turned I can still hear." Tam tugged uselessly with his foot from the chain connected to the table, but it was solid without an inch of give. "Does this mean you don't want a reward? We can just go back to punishment."

"Punishment?"

"If you insist."

"No," Tam said. "No, I meant — I'll take the reward."

"Well, here it is," Lois said, sweeping his hand out over the bath. With that gesture and the sweet smell of the herbs in the water, Tam became aware of exactly how he stood in comparison to Lois, who was clean and crisp, his sleeves rolled up to the elbow. Even his long fingernails were perfectly clean and shining, the light sliding up to the wicked point. Tam shivered in his nakedness, feeling dried sweat and blood impede the shift of his skin. He wanted to get into the bath. Taking a few shuffling steps towards the steam rolling up off the water was a concession to Lois, who was standing, arms crossed, on the other side of the tub, hip cocked like he was waiting for Tam to grovel in front of him. Which he was. "It's getting cold," he said.

Tam put one leg over the side of the tub and plunged his foot into knee-deep hot water. The bottom of his foot stung terribly, and he couldn't help wincing and flinching back. His leg went numb with cold against the heat of the water; he could feel it around him, but it didn't feel like his flesh was warming. He tried to move forward, but couldn't balance well enough to lift his other leg off, the weight of the chain dragging on it.

"I'll help you," Lois said, coming close. "You look like you need it." He came around the side, reaching out a hand. Tam rocked away from it and Lois smiled as he moved a little closer. Tam lunged, his leg coming out of the tub with a hot wave of water, splashing onto the stone below, Tam's hands grasping for Lois, who stepped back with the graceful flair of a choreographed dance. The chain around his neck clenched tight and Tam scrabbled at it, trying to fit his fingers between it and his neck while Lois smiled. He went to his knees, wheezing as it crushed the soft flesh.

"Now you _really_ need help," Lois said. "Suddenly I'm feeling less generous." Tam's chest fluttered, lungs trying to draw in anything, his head spinning. Lois came closer, running his index finger along the line of the chain. His vision was going dark as Lois loomed over him, hands going behind his neck. For a moment Tam wasn't sure if he was tightening or loosening the chain until it went slack and he could breathe again.

"Are you going to get in the bath or are you going to just disappoint me?" Lois said, and his voice was hard edged, nails digging into Tam's neck. "I prepared all of this just for you and you don't appreciate any of it. What were you going to do if you caught me? Kill me? Fuck me?"

Tam turned his head away. Lois slapped him across the face, open palmed, leaving a hot red mark on his cheek. He grabbed Tam by the chin and tilted his head down so he had to look up to meet Lois's eyes. "Will you be good if I give you one more chance?" He moved Tam's head up and down in an approximation of a nod, and affected a high, whiny tone. "'Yes, Lois, I'll be good. I'll do whatever you say.' Well, that's good," he said, moving even closer, his voice barely above a whisper, eyes gleaming in the dark. "If you're not, I'm going to tie you back up to the table and never let you off again and put drugs in you until you can't remember your own name and all you can do is beg to come, which I will _never let you do_." He nodded Tam's head again, fingers pressing into the flesh of his cheeks, then withdrew.

Tam could still feel his grip on his face and struggled to stand, unable to balance without his hands. Lois came back around and helped him, his touch perversely gentle. He found he hated that even more than when the touch was painful, but allowed Lois to help him into the tub until he could sink down into the water that came to his neck, the petals and herbs in the water brushing gently against his legs and thighs like some hidden creature. He sat there for a moment, unmoving, until the waxy flesh of his body began to warm against the chill of the air, even though his heart remained a rabbit thump in his chest. He couldn't move his hands up or down without the chain at his neck checking him, pulling tight and then relaxing. That meant he couldn't wash the blood off his face or the sweat from his body, feeling dirty even when sitting in the hot water. Lois pulled a stool up behind him and sat, cup and cloth in hand.

"I'll help you," he said, quietly, and Tam's body went slack, defeated. . Lois dipped the cloth in the water and leaned forward, allowing him to rub it over the expanse of his back. The smooth, gentle motion raised prickles in its wake. He kept expecting it to be followed by something else which didn't come, and it made his body thrum with tension. Lois re-wet the cloth and resumed washing Tam's back, the hot cloth moving down under his armpits and then along the line of his bicep and down to his elbow. He shivered and pushed back into the pressure of the touch, then tried to pull forward again when he remembered who that touch belonged to. "Relax," Lois said.

"How?" Tam said. Lois chuckled.

"I can think of a way," he said, one hand slipping under the water and gripping at Tam's hip, the sides of his nails pressing into the bone. He reached a little further until his hand was grazing the top of the hair there, moving to touch the metal ring at the base of Tam's cock, pressing it a little harder.

"No," Tam said, twisting his hips away.

"I like that you think you have a choice," Lois said, leaning forward until his chest was pressed firmly against Tam's back and Tam could feel the slow, steady beat of his heart as he moved his hand down to wrap it around Tam's cock. Tam's breath choked off. He couldn't help leaning back against Lois, who started touching him with more intent, drawing his hand up and down lightly from the head of Tam's cock down to cup his balls, which were hanging heavy and tight. Lois clucked his tongue. "Have you been saving yourself for me?" he said, mostly into the juncture of Tam's neck, his tongue running along the tight tendon there. He could still feel Lois's heartbeat against his back, steady as if he was reading the world's most boring book.

"Stop," Tam said, trying to move back away from Lois's hand, which just pressed him harder against Lois's chest, until he was stuck between both points of contact.

"Say it like you mean it," Lois said, biting at Tam's neck with a vicious pressure he could only barely feel underneath the touch on his straining cock. He couldn't help pushing forward, the water churning with his movement.

"Will you let me come?" he said, gasping the words out.

"It's nothing to do with me," Lois said, words barely audible as his lips moved against Tam's neck, moving a little higher to bite him again, simultaneously pressing his thumb against the head of Tam's cock. "You're the one choosing not to come."

"What — " Tam said, and was cut off by Lois thumbing at the slit of his cock and then dragging his hand all the way back down, his hand slipping behind Tam's balls and pressing at the skin underneath. Tam's hips jerked forward and the pleasure peaked, twisting with the pain from the bites at his neck until his hips snapped forward like he was coming, but nothing came, the metal ring clenching against him. Lois removed his hand and moved it all the way back up Tam's torso, pinching at his sore brown nipples and then emerging from the water, dripping, sleeve wet to the shoulder. Still, his heart remained a slow, heavy beat against Tam's back. Tam didn't even think Lois was hard, even though his own cock was painfully red and aching. He closed his eyes and tried to force himself to relax, but Lois was washing him again, the cloth scrubbing his nipples again and again on each swipe over his chest, brusque enough that he could almost believe it was unintentional. Lois washed his other arm and then moved, leaving him to rest his back on the jut of the lip of the bathtub, a pale comparison to the solid, warm weight that had been there. He felt a sting in his nose that travelled to his eyes and realised he was about to cry. Of course, nothing had escaped Lois's attention.

"It was nice of you to cry when I could hear it," he said.

"I didn't know you were there," Tam said, sniffing and then realising how petulant he sounded.

"It's a high compliment to pay," Lois said, and he was smiling to himself as he dipped his hand under the water to wash Tam's thighs, the soft pressure of the cloth making his cock jump as it came perilously close to grazing it. Tam closed his eyes so he didn't have to look at Lois's face and that smile as he worked his way down Tam's calves, apparently content for the minute to just wash him, the cloth still moving in those soothing circles that sent spikes of anticipation up to his hips and hands. Lois's hand bent Tam's knee straight and raised his foot up until his ankle rested on the opposite rim of the tub. He clicked his tongue and cocked his head, no doubt observing the stripes on the sole. He touched the bottom of Tam's foot with his thumb, and he couldn't help but be reminded of the nail scraping along his foot, toes curling with anticipation. Nothing came beyond the touch of the cloth as Lois thoroughly went over his foot with a gentle touch. He felt emboldened by the hesitance.

"I could get used to this," he said, cracking open one eye. Lois looked up.

"What?"

"You serving me hand and foot."

"You know," Lois said, smiling, "that ring can't come off until you're soft. So I suggest trying to bring your cock down if you ever want to get out of it. That is, if you even can."

Tam flushed, the red creeping down his neck and onto his chest. Lois was right — what had he been thinking? He had been encouraging him. He closed his eyes and tried to think boring thoughts about the colour of the sky and the names of streets, but each thought was punctuated by the sweep of the cloth against his skin as Lois put one foot back and swapped it for the other, the press of the cloth becoming more insistent against the lines from the cane, incrementally waking them up. It seemed accidental, but, again, he couldn't be sure. He tried to breathe deeply, the water gently lapping at his sore nipples, and found that instead of going soft, the opposite seemed to be happening. It was like every thought that was meant to be distracted was still centred there, drawing heat and blood to pool there, warming his hips and the top of his thighs. "I can't," he said.

"Do you want me to help you?" Lois said, putting Tam's foot back in the bath.

"I know you're not going to let me come," he said.

"No," Lois said. "Do you want me to help you go soft?"

"No," Tam said, quickly drawing his legs up against his chest, trapping his hands there. The chains themselves that had been in the water were hot and heavy against his skin, and he became, suddenly, acutely aware that he was totally naked whilst Lois was fully clothed, even though his white shirt was thoroughly wet and Tam could see the shadow of his nipples through the thin fabric. Lois looked down.

"I don't think that's going to help," he said. Tam looked away, eyes searching the darkest corners of the room, trying to identify the shadows. Lois was scooping water from the bath to wash the table, the dark water running across the floor to a little grated drain. He was turned away, leaning over the table, his dark pants stretching snugly over the swell of his ass. Tam tried to look away again, but there was nothing else in the room to hold his attention beyond Lois, who was finishing his job, bending over one last time to reach at something on the floor.Tam had to drag his eyes away, turning towards the wall as best he could. The water was growing cold and Lois came back with a large white towel. Tam stood, water dripping off his body, rolling off his back and down his thighs. Lois gave him a once over, but it warcursory; only to acknowledge that Tam had brought himself back to half-hard with slow breathing and distracting thoughts, He wrapped Tam in the towel and dried him brusquely, completely ignoring his nipples and cock. When the towel dropped, he was reminded exactly how cold the room was, the temperature seeming to plunge as soon as he was unclothed.

"Can I have something to wear?" Tam said, his voice shivery.

"You are wearing something," Lois said, uncoupling parts of the table and turning back around. "If you want something more you can answer another one of my questions." He leaned down and picked up the chain that attached Tam's ankle to the table, gently tugging on it until he took a step, reeling him in until he was back against that cold, wet wood. It was a relief to lie down, even though the wood was so hard against his back. "Lift your arms up," he said. Tam groaned. Lois locked his feet in and uncuffed his ankle. He couldn't lift his hands above his head without pulling the chain tight around his neck. Lois put his hand on Tam's elbow and pushed his hands up a little higher, cutting off half his air so he had to suck in shallow breaths. He tried to grab at Lois's hand, but it was too far away, jerking the chain in the other direction. Lois released him and reached around behind his neck, pressing the edge of his damp sleeve into Tam's neck, where the bruises from his teeth still stung. It took him more than a moment, fumbling. His wrist was at the perfect angle that Tam realised he could turn his head just a little and sink his teeth right in. He moved his head a fraction to the left and Lois responded by lifting his knee up onto the table and placing it on Tam's hip, a few inches from his cock. "Are you going to be nice?" Lois said, very quietly.

"Aren't I always?" Tam said. The warm pressure of Lois's knee on his bare hip wasn't helping.

"No," Lois said, and Tam could feel the warmth of his breath against his ear, raising goosebumps down his arm. "You tried to escape during your reward." Tam squirmed, Lois leaning more weight down onto his hip. The chains around Tam's neck tightened, but the ones around his hands slithered away, leaving Lois holding the end of the other like a master with a dog on a leash. He pulled it a little tighter. "Put your hands up," he said, pulling until Tam had to arch his neck up to get any relief. He put one hand up, then the other, and let Lois fix them in place., His body settl into a familiar posture, even though the feeling to move again was spiking through him in waves, tell him to pull on the bonds. Lois reached dismounted the table and reached underneath to fix them into place before unwinding the chain from around Tam's neck. He panted, unable to inhale to the extent of his lungs, his mouth falling open.

"Was there something in that water?" he said. His body still hot, even against the cold wood, and his cock was still half-hard.

"No," Lois said. "That's all you, I'm afraid. I'm shocked you're not holding up your end of the bargain. I can sweeten the deal for you if it helps."

"I don't want anything sweet from you."

"How about something savoury?" Lois said, drawing the cloth off a plate on the table with an undeserved flourish. There was chicken and bread on the plate with some kind of fruit. Tam felt his mouth go wet, and his stomach growled. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten — if he even knew how long it was that he had been in here at all. "If you can make yourself soft, I'll take the ring off _and_ feed you."

"Let me guess," Tam said. "You're going to 'help' me."

"Cheek won't help you at all," Lois said. "Shall I give you a taste? That is, I will if you will."

"What do you want a taste of?"

"Information," Lois said. "Of course."

"You think I'll trade information for food?" Tam said.

"Yes," Lois said, "because I also don't think you're very smart." He smiled and leant against the table, crossing his arms. "You ended up here, after all. Usually I don't get anyone down here that can make any kind of intelligent conversation. Or any conversation, really. Generally it's just screaming."

"I'm not screaming," Tam said.

"Not yet," Lois said. "Or is it not anymore? I'm really not sure. Quite honestly, this whole thing has been so boring that it's almost a blur."

Tam pulled at his wrists, more out of habit than any true test of strength. He closed his eyes and pulled again, until his muscles strained. When he opened them again, Lois was close, sitting on that little stool next to Tam again, but this time he had some chicken in his hand. "You'll have to get my hands free again," Tam said. "Seems like almost a wasted effort to do them back up."

"Nonsense," Lois said. "You said you enjoyed me waiting on you hand and foot. Why are you always so resistant to getting what you ask for?"

"I didn't — "

Lois reached up and put the chicken in his mouth, Tam snapping his mouth shut before he could take it back. It was moist and gently spiced with something he didn't recognise, the flavour overwhelming his senses. He made an embarrassing noise, and Lois raised an eyebrow, propping his elbow on the table and putting his chin on his hand. His shirt was mostly dry now, and he reached up to the top of his collar and undid the button there, so that it opened just a little and Tam could see the dip of his clavicle. He swallowed, his throat dry. Lois had a cup of water in his other hand, and he let Tam sip from it, even though every time Lois brought the cup to his lip he had to stop himself from clamping his mouth shut to avoid that rush of water. When it was empty, Lois put the cup down on the floor and returned his full attention to Tam.

"Well?" he said. "If you never met Prince Kae, who was your contact? Where did you meet them? How much were you paid?"

"Didn't they teach you not to ask too many questions?" Tam said. "Now I've come over all flustered and confused."

"I think you're probably always a little bit confused," Lois said. "Like a dog that hangs around panting and drooling. Now, where did you meet your contact? Maybe we can work backwards from there." He put his hand on Tam's chest, right in the centre above his heart, and Tam knew that despite his attempts to be calm, Lois could feel the thump of it against his palm, and it would ruin whatever facade he had managed to build up. Lois liked to say certain things about his stupidity, and it made him _feel_ stupid, like everything negative that had been said to him his entire life was true. Being laid bare in front of him and subject to his every touch made it ten times worse. "If you want to prove me wrong, you can always tell me how you did it. I'm sure it took some cunning to make your way into the palace alone. You were alone, right?"

"Yes," Tam said, and Lois hummed acknowledgement, his hand moving across to Tam's nipple and pinching it gently once more, absently rolling it between his fingers. He bit his lip and pushed up into that touch.

"Must have been hard to do all that on your own," Lois said, reaching up with his other hand and touching the bruises on Tam's neck, pressing in on one with his thumb. "Where do you work from?"

"Nowhere," Tam said, and gasped when Lois's thumb pressed in with the nail, scoring a line down his neck that felt red hot against the dull pain of the bruise. "No, I mean it," he said.

"Where do you live?"

"I don't live — "

Lois's nail pressed in again, drawing a second line next to the first, pinching and pulling at Tam's nipple at the same time. "I'm not lying," Tam said, hissing the words out as Lois pricked at the juncture of his neck and jaw for a third line.

"Prove it," Lois said.

"How?" Tam said. "I can't take you to nowhere."

"Hm," Lois said, withdrawing his hand with just a slight scratch instead of delivering on his promise. "I suppose that's true." He pulled hard on Tam's nipple so that he had to push forward to relieve the pressure. "Where did you sleep the night before you came here?"

"In at tree outside the city," Tam said.

"What did you eat?"

"Apples."

"Did you speak to anyone once you were here?"

"No," Tam said, and Lois released him. He fell back, the blood running through his abused nipple feeling almost as painful as the tight grip it had been under. His cock was fat and heavy against his thigh. He thought the pain would make it go down, but it seemed to be thinking the opposite. Lois reached down and flick the head of his cock and Tam jumped, full body, pulling against his bonds.

"Pay attention," he said.

"I am paying attention," Tam said.

"Part of you certainly is," Lois said. "Time's up on your deal, by the way. Even if you could go soft, I wouldn't do anything to help you."

" _I'm_ helping _you_ ," Tam said. Lois was looking away idly, like he'd lost interest in Tam altogether. "Don't hurt me while I'm helping you."

"Why not?" Lois said. "You like it."

"I don't," Tam said.

"Don't you?" Lois said. "Then why are you still hard if you don't like it? Frankly, I think that's quite strange." Tam closed his eyes. "There you go," Lois continued. "I've noticed that whenever I say something you don't want to admit you close your eyes. I suppose that's the only way you can escape me." There was silence for a moment, and then he put a hand on Tam's hip, sliding across and then down along his inner thigh. "What would you do if you were free right now?"

"Escape," Tam said through gritted teeth.

"I don't believe you," Lois said. "It would be a shame to start lying to me again now. You'd almost earned yourself another reward."

"I don't like your rewards," Tam said.

"But I spent so much time preparing it for you," Lois said, his nails scratching gently at Tam's inner thigh, then stroking over the sting.

"I'm sure you do that for everyone you get down here," Tam said, twisting his hips to try and move away.

"Well," Lois said. "I'm offended. You think I just have a parade of prisoners down here, and I just go through the motions like I have with you? You think I give them all this much personal attention? I suppose you'd have me sucking the cock of everyone Prince Aris sends down here. I'd have to add a lot more hours to my day if I wanted to do a _really_ good job."

"You didn't suck my cock," Tam said, opening his eyes.

"That was going to be your next reward if you'd kept being truthful," Lois said. "But, again, you made the wrong decision. Answer my question."

"Which one?" Tam said, raising his head.

"Where did you meet your contact?"

"I'm not answering that," Tam said. "But I'll answer the other one."

"I know the answer to that one," Lois said, closing his hand around Tam's cock. "You'd overpower me, hold me to the ground and fuck me until I cried. Or you cried, because it was so good. That's what I'd put money on, if you had anything on you to match my bet."

Tam groaned and pushed into the circle of Lois's hand, hips stuttering as he remembered the pain of seeking his pleasure last time. "I didn't say that," he said.

"I suppose you think you'd kill me," Lois said. "I'm not saying that's not true, but I do hope it would be after. Or at least during."

"Fuck you," Tam said, and cried out as Lois's hand went tight around the head of his cock, squeezing until the pleasure turned to pain, his legs kicking.

"That's not very nice," Lois said. "I liked you better in the dark. I had half my hand up my ass listening to you cry. I've got to say, you've not lived up to my expectations today."

"What?" Tam said.

"I'd say 'I'm serious' but I know you can't tell either way," Lois said. "I suppose I'd just have to show you, but I'm afraid I'm really not feeling inclined right now."

"What — "

"Tell me — "

"No," Tam said, and Lois smacked his cock, more in admonishment than with any real force.

"I really don't think you quite understand what's happening," he said. "Yesterday was just a taste of what I want to do to you. Today is the other side. I'll use either method if it proves effective. Do you think you'll respond better to being punished or rewarded?"

"I don't know," Tam said.

"I'll make the decision for you," Lois said. "If you'd had somebody like me to make decisions for you, maybe you would have been successful."

"I'm answering your questions," Tam said.

"Only after wasting my time by needing to be coaxed," Lois said. "And don't think I couldn't tell you were looking at my ass."

"That's only because you wanted me to," Tam said. "I doubt Prince Aris knows exactly what you're doing to me down here. I'm sure he's picturing more blood and screaming."

"That's so old fashioned," Lois said. "I mean, I can do that too, when it's called for. But I could tell from the moment I saw you that you would respond to other torments a little better."

"I don't believe you," Tam said. "You're just doing whatever you please."

"If you had the capacity to please me I would have been on your cock ten minutes ago," Lois said, releasing Tam's cock. He tried to follow the hand away by pushing his hips up to no avail. "I'll let you come if you tell me where you met your contact."

"Is that a promise?" Tam said.

"I might make a promise," Lois said. "But I'll be more persuaded if I thought you actually wanted it."

"I do want it," Tam said. He could feel how close he was to coming. He thought if Lois touched him again he might come off anyway, ring be damned. It was as if since Lois had started him off yesterday he'd been either hard or half-hard, his blood a slow roil through his body that felt like it would never end, only get worse and worse. He clenched his hands into fists and tried to turn his body towards Lois more. "I do want it."

Lois's eyes narrowed and he moved away and turned around. Tam let his head thunk back onto the wood, trying not to think about what it would be like if Lois did climb up onto the table and sat on his cock. What it would be like to thrust up into his ass — no, there was no way Lois would let him do anything of the kind. He would pin Tam down and seek his own pleasure, riding him hard and relentlessly until Lois came untouched just from Tam's cock, splattering come up his chest. The fantasy couldn't complete, though, because Tam couldn't see a way Lois would let him come. He'd more likely just throw a sheet over him and leave him there to suffer. That, or just — he'd probably just keep riding him until Lois came a second time, and never let Tam come at all.

Lois was still turned around, but looking back over his shoulder down at Tam's cock, sitting so hard and red against his belly that Tam found it hard to look at. "That looks painful," Lois said, hooking his thumbs into the waistband of his pants. He began to pull them down over the swell of his ass, revealing bare skin underneath. Tam jerked against his bonds. He wanted to touch Lois's ass like he'd wanted nothing more before in his life. His thoughts were spinning, unable to be quelled. He wanted to bite it, spank it, ruin it. Lois reached down and slid two easy fingers right up into his hole without a moment's pause, spreading them and arching his back so Tam could see the pink rim of his hole, his mouth watering.

"Come here," Tam said.

"I don't think so," Lois said.

"Come here and I'll eat you out," Tam said, and Lois's fingers stuttered, the calm on his face shifting for just a second before it fell back into place.

"What?" he said. Tam was blushing violently, teeth scraping over his bottom lip. There had to be something in the water, or the food, to make him able to say such things. There had to be.

"If you come over here now, I'll stick my tongue up your ass until you come," Tam said. "Do you need me to be more blunt?"

"If you tell me — "

"I don't care about rewards or punishments," Tam said. "If you come here now, I'll do it for free."

"You think you're in a position to seduce your way out of this?" Lois said. "Well — "

"No," Tam said. "I'm just making an offer."

Lois smiled, carefully removing his fingers and pulling up his pants, going around to wash his hands in the bath that was still left. "This gambit might be your weakest yet," he said.

"It's not a gambit," Tam said.

"You're serious," Lois said.

"Yes."

"You might be more sick than me," Lois said, and his smile was genuine, not cruel, lighting up his eyes with a feverish delight. "But unfortunately you still have things to tell me."

"I don't remember the question," Tam said.

"I'm sure you don't," Lois said, sitting on the edge of the table. "If this is a ploy to try and get on my good side, you really should know that it's not the best way to avoid pain." He pinched Tam's upper arm and twisted until Tam gasped, leaving the flesh red when he released it, then moved up an inch and did it again, making a row of marks that throbbed.

"I doubt there's anyone on your good side," Tam muttered, and Lois twisted viciously, making the next mark especially dark.

"I don't like people very much," Lois said. "That's probably why they let me be down here. And you might not care about punishments and rewards, but I do. I care about them quite a lot. Tell me where you met your contact."

"It's a small town on the river's bed," Tam said, and Lois leaned in, his fingers stroking lines over the marks on Tam's upper arm. "Calistra."

"I know it," Lois said. His fingers were making excited movements against Tam's skin. "Who did you meet there?'

Tam shook his head.

"Punishment and reward," Lois said, "You could have either and you choose the former? Well, it's fine with me. I don't have to play your game, but you have to play mine." He stepped away, picking up a clean sheet and throwing it over Tam's body. Tam flinched as it settled against his cock, even the light touch making him shudder.

"You promised," he said. "Wait, come back. You promised."

"I did no such thing," Lois said. He pinched out the candle and walked over to the door, pulling the door open so that the dim light from the sconce on the wall outlined him. "I never make promises."

"Come back here," Tam said, pulling so hard on his bonds he thought he might somehow break the table before his wrists. The edges were cutting up his hands and feet, but he didn't care. All he cared about was shattering the metal — snapping the wood somehow and getting to Lois before he closed the door. Everything Lois had said was right. He'd break his own bones to get his cock wet because Lois would never help him, never let him free. He didn't think he could take another day, another hour. Lois keep him here for weeks until he was a mad slavering thing with a hard cock chained up in the corner. "Come back," he yelled as Lois closed the door with a resounding bang followed by the bright jingling of keys and then the sound of footsteps up towards the grated window. "I'll kill you," he said, his voice rasping. Lois was at the top of the stairs and crouched down, his shadow blocking out the dim light there.

"Try not to hurt yourself before I get a chance," he said, and the light went out, leaving Tam in darkness. He wrestled against his bonds for as long as he could manage, until his muscles were strained and his chest was heaving, sweat wet under his arms and behind his knees against even the cold of the room. His breath was harsh in his chest as he tried to think of a way to get free. The only way was to tell Lois what he wanted to know. Or chew his own wrist up and bleed to death alone on the slab. That almost suited him just to spite Lois, but he also didn't want to die naked and hard. There had to be some dignity left in the world.

He knew if he slept Lois would sneak back in and do whatever he wanted. Maybe he'd wake up to Lois riding him at a pace so slow neither of them would ever come. Or he'd break Tam's arm. Or he really would come back with his friends and they'd take turns with him until he had forgotten what it was like to not be getting fucked, Lois always watching him from the corner but never touching. He shook his head as hard as he could, and then thumped it back on the wood a few times to clear his head with the dull pain, trying to bring his thoughts back to rationality, but no calm came. There had to have been something in the food. Or the water. Or maybe there was just something in the air down here that Lois was immune to, and every breath he took was just drawing it deeper down into his body. It couldn't just be from his mind. It couldn't just be from him. He could feel himself falling asleep, his head leaning against his arm, and dug his nails into the meat of his hand to jolt himself awake again.

 

*

 

Soon he could no longer tell if it had been minutes or hours. Sometimes the chilled water would drip onto hs forehead and neck, and he managed to get a few drops in his mouth, but it tasted like rock and moss, and it didn't satisfy his thirst at all. Then he began to lose his sense of place, unsure if he was awake or asleep, still in the room or somewhere else, floating in a weird dark space where he had no body and was not anchored to the table. He was somewhere in between everything. He could still feel every ache in his body, but it felt like it was somewhere else, happening to somewhere else. Something woke him — brought him back to his body quickly, and he opened his eyes to that same darkness. Everything was silent and dark. He held his breath to listen, and struggled to hear anything beyond the thump of blood in his ears. Then the sound of footsteps on stone. Not Lois — and he hated how he knew just from the sound — but someone heavier, with a more sure tread. Then Lois's footsteps came after, an erratically swinging light illuminating the grated window.

"Stop," Lois said, and Tam went still, then realised Lois hadn't been talking at all. The light stopped swinging. "You're going to ruin everything I've been doing."

"You haven't been doing enough," said the new voice, a deep and commanding voice that made Tam flinch. He knew that voice. His hands clenched into fists, but he made his breathing slow, trying to centre himself as he would right before preparing to strike. He could feel that cold sensation settle over his skull and down over his entire body. He stilled his breath and slowed his heart, ears straining. "I have no information."

"I told you where he met his — "

"That's a city with thousands of people," Aris said. "You've told me nothing."

"Keep your voice down," Lois said. "You're ruining all my work." It was a totally different tone than he had ever heard Lois speak in before. His voice was tense, almost scared. There was a tremor in his voice. Tam could believe it was a different person with a similar voice.

"I'm not concerned with your work," Aris said, descending the stairs. Tam knew there was no point pulling at the bonds. Aris wouldn't kill him without the information he wanted. He couldn't be worse than Lois — well, it would be different. There would be no finesse. Aris would just beat him until he said something. Anything. Tam ran his tongue over his teeth. That was his best chance when Aris leaned over him. Lois had been expecting it, but Aris wouldn't be. No prince prepared themselves to have their throat torn out by a naked man. "I'm concerned with mine, and it's not yet done. Kae isn't — . I will have complete control of this palace." The light was gone from the upstairs window, and was now under the door. Tam swallowed. The door rattled.

"It's locked," Lois said, still at the top of the stairs.

"Unlock it," Aris said.

"No," Lois said.

"It's not a request."

Lois came down the stairs in a rush, the light tap of his feet reaching the bottom and his shadow blocking the light under the door. "You told me I could have three days," he said. "It's been two and a half."

"Lois," Aris said, and his voice was low and dangerous. "I indulge you. I've given you this place, and I don't ask questions about what you do down here because it gets me results."

"I know that," Lois said.

"That's reliant on you getting me results."

"Three days," Lois said.

"You should know better than to stand in my way."

"Three — " There was a thud of flesh on flesh, and then a second one, then the sound of someone crumpling to the ground. For a wild second Tam couldn't imagine how Lois had bested Aris in only two blows.

"You can have your half day," Aris said. "In the morning you can pay for it." Then the sound of his steps going back up the stairs and the light with them, leaving Tam in darkness again. The cold shroud over him was melting and he was able to breathe again, sucking in deep lungfuls of chilled air. Something in him was urging him to call out to Lois, but he bit his tongue. Soon enough he heard him getting up and the key in the lock, then the door opening. It was still dark, but he could hear Lois moving slowly across the room, then the striking of the match. Tam could see the red shadow under his eye as he furiously wiped it away with the thin silk of the sleeve of his robe. His mouth was downturned and set hard, his hand trembling at his eye. It was all a perfect image of the chastened man, like saying a sword wasn't sharp just because it's sheathed.

"I see," Tam said. Lois didn't respond, but sat down at the table instead and stared straight ahead. He put his hands flat on the table and began to breathe carefully, his fingers creeping over the table to grasp at the hilt of Tam's sword, his breath stuttering the light of the candle to dance around, dipping his face in and out of shadow. "That's a pretty good ruse. Am I meant to feel sorry for you now?"

"If you speak another word I'll gut you with your own sword," Lois said, grabbing Tam's sword and pulling it towards him across the table in a clatter of metal against wood. "Or I'll cut out your tongue."

"Most people wouldn't commit to actually being hit," Tam said.

Lois stood and turned in one quick motion, eyes bright with fury. "Am I not speaking? Can you not hear me? Or are you just too stupid to understand?" He threw the sword down on the table and stalked over to the wall, pulling something down and coming back to Tam. He caught a glimpse of only metal or leather before Lois hit him in the face with it. He felt it ring against his skin, the dull pain exploding behind his eyes and rattling into his brain. He spat blood down onto his shoulder. Lois's clawing fingers hooked into his mouth and forced it open, shoving down against his tongue, his fingers searching for the root of it. Tam closed his teeth onto Lois's fingers and Lois hit him, Tam's jaw dropping open. Lois shoved the metal bar into his mouth and pulled it all the way back, cinching it closed on the side of Tam's neck. He leaned back in triumph, his fingers wet and bloody. "That's better," he said.

The metal bit on the gag pressed Tam's tongue down and tasted cold cold and coppery. It pulled at the corners of his lips and he found he could not speak, only make strange, desperate sounds from behind the metal.

"I know what you're thinking," Lois said, grabbing Tam's hair and pulling his head back. His voice went mocking. "'How can I answer questions with this thing in my mouth?' I mean, really. For a moment I thought we understood each other, but again you've proved your stupidity. I don't care about your answers. I never have. I don't care what Aris wants. I only care about doing what _I_ want to you." Tam tried to wrestle his head out of Lois's grip, but he smacked him across the face. With his face so close, Tam could see the dark bruise forming over his right eye and down his cheekbone. His eyes were dry and lit with some insane fire that Tam couldn't fathom. He made a sound from behind the gag, a strange moan like a wounded animal. "I should have done this from the start," Lois said. "I can really concentrate if I don't have to talk." He began to roll his sleeves up to the elbow. Tam made another noise, but that was all he could do. Nothing approximating words could make it through the gag.

Lois turned and went back to the wall, pondering what was up there. With his head rolled to the side he could see Lois's posture. He was dressed in a white silk robe so thin it was transparent, with gold embroidery that shimmered in the light. He selected something from the wall and turned back. Tam lifted his head and strained his eyes to see what it was. It was black, so he couldn't see it until it was close enough to touch. It was some kind of whip, with a hard black handle and multiple strands coming off it, with hard knots at the end of the ties. Lois swung it experimentally, whooshing it past Tam's arm. He felt the air stir against his skin, goosebumps rising in its wake. He swung it again, and then the third time raised his arm high and flicked his wrist, the tails flicking down onto Tam's chest, striping over his nippled and curling down. At first he felt the impact but no sensation, wondering if Lois was trying to trick him. He swung his arm again, the tails landing in different places, and a deep painful ache began to build, again and again, his skin growing hot, the feeling thrumming through him all the way down to his back.

Lois was relentless, never speaking, never even moving beyond the flick of his wrist. His eyes were focused dowards on Tam's skin, the marks and colour rising to the top. The repeated sensation was making Tam float, his mind fading away from his body. He could still hear the sound of the whip hitting him; he could even still feel it, somewhere beyond, but he felt like his body was splitting into sections. His mouth was wet, and he could feel the drool building up inside it, threatening to run down the sides of his mouth. His nipples were hot and sore and they felt hard and inflamed, like if he looked down they might be puffy and swollen. The muscles in his stomach were drawn so tight they felt like they might rip, his toes curling and uncurling.

Lois stopped, suddenly, and it was the lack of sensation that made Tam come back to himself, his mind clearing. Lois put the whip down on the table next to him and went over to his things, rattling around in glass bottles and phials. Tam's breathing sped up, twisting his head to try and see what he was doing, making a questioning noise. Still, it was like Lois had decided he was no longer a person, but a beast, a thing to be toyed with.

The light made it impossible for Tam to see, but the clink of glass and metal was making him sweat. He didn't think he could go through what Lois had given him before. Lois turned back, holding a phial in one hand and a needle in the other, which he jammed into the phial and then took two steps and pricked Tam in the neck. He shied away, moving as much as he could, but Lois repeated the motion three or four times, then returned the phial and needle to the table. Tam's breath quickened, huffing breath as best he could, feeling sweat and spit drip down his neck. Lois reached up and pulled Tam's hands straight, running his fingers over the meat of Tam's hand, unwinding the filthy bandage and throwing it to the side. Then his fingers brushed down his arms, down to his shoulders and neck, and then over his sides. Tam shivered. Lois raised an eyebrow and turned away, going back to the table with Tam's things. He picked up the sword and held it up to the light and brought it back to Tam, leaning it against the table. Then he sat, propped his chin against his hand, and began to wait.

The little pinpricks in his neck stung, but he knew whatever Lois stuck him with was probably ten times worse. All his muscles were clenched in anticipation, his arms tense and back and stomach aching with tension. Lois laid a hand on his hip and Tam jumped, a full-body startle. Lois withdrew his hand. He hadn't felt anything different from the touch. It just felt like a simple touch, a warm hand resting on his skin. He couldn't judge if it was the same drug as before, because Lois hadn't caused him any pleasure on pain, just touched him. Lois stood and leaned over, reaching over and prying his eye open with his fingers. "There you go," he said, very quietly, and sat back down. Tam's neck was tense and strained. He wondered if that was what the drug did, locked all his muscles in a paroxysm of tension until he couldn't move without breaking himself in two.

His heart was pounding, thumping so hard in his chest he thought it might break through, sweat beading on his forehead and running back down through his hair. His body felt hot and light, originating from the pulsing points on his neck. His tongue felt heavy and fat in his mouth, his hands clenching. He was beginning to relax, his body feeling hot and loose, his thighs feeling thick and his cock was flushing red against his thigh. Lois was looking down at it and smiling, his lips quirked. Tam groaned around the bit, sounding strangled and muffled, his mouth wet and dripping. He shifted his thighs, trying to get some kind of friction against his cock, but Lois was just watching. He was making a constant stream of sounds now, unable to even make something approaching a word. He knew at that moment that everything Lois had said had been true. He was no greater than a beast, and no more intelligent. He would be down here forever, but it felt good, didn't it? Lois was making him feel good, and taking care of him, feeding him, bathing him. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

Lois picked up the whip again, and ran the tails down Tam's chest, over his cock and legs. It felt like being caressed by the leather, his cock twitching. He moaned behind the gag and could feel himself begin to leak precome, wetting his stomach. But it wasn't enough. The sensation felt incomplete and unsatisfying. Lois knew that, though, of course, and he was teasing him, just running the whip up and down, dragging it along his thighs and back up. He wanted Lois to hit him again. The marks of the lash across his chest were throbbing in time with his heart, the raw smart of them and the dull bruise underneath combining into a hot, spreading sensation over his ribs and down to his hips like he was a match just waiting for Lois to strike him.

"If you want something, you're going to have to ask for it," Lois said. His voice was a little ragged and breathy. It was the first sign Tam had ever heard or seen to indicate that Lois was experiencing even the barest hint of arousal. His eyes were unerringly pulled down to the groin and the black fabric there. Noticing him looking, Lois turned to the side so Tam could see the outline of his hard cock against the fabric. His mouth went wet. He was drooling like a rabid animal. He wanted Lois to shove his cock down his throat until he passed out. He wanted to wake up with him still fucking his mouth, reaching down to pull his hair not to stimulate him but to move him into a better position, Tam's hands laced behind his back not with any sort of restrain but with lack of desire to move, knowing it wasn't his place. "Like I said," Lois said, "if you want something, you're going to have to ask."

Tam made a noise, and Lois shrugged. "I'm sorry. I can't understand you." Then he turned away and picked up the whip again, swinging it down on Tam's chest again, the tendrils colliding with his nipples and slapping them back to hardness. He moved down with pracised strikes down to his stomach, and then his thighs until the skin of his thighs was red and mottled with stripes and bruises, his eyes watering and his head lolling back. Nothing hurt any more. There was only that descent into pleasure that was inexorable, his mind pulling away from his body, only able to focus on Lois's concentrating face, his eyes slightly narrowed and face bent down to the task. Even if he could speak, or move, there was nothing he could do to make Lois stop. Even if he could speak, or move, there was nothing he _would_ do to make Lois stop.

Lois looked up and met his eye, and realised what Tam was thinking. "Good," he said, very quietly, and raised the whip again. Tam's body went tight with anticipation, his muscles clenching. Lois had never praised him like that. He wanted to do whatever it was that had earned that praise again. He tried to relax, willing his muscles down to softness, his legs falling more open. He wanted Lois to touch his cock, even if he wouldn't let him come, just to figure out what felt good and what felt bad. Just to rebalance what was pain and what was pleasure. That wouldn't help, though, because anything felt good if it was Lois that was doing it to him. Lois turned away, his face returning to a calm mask of concentration. He raised the whip again and Tam sighed underneath it. He knew it wouldn't hurt, so there was no point resisting. Lois brought the whip down right on Tam's cock, the ends curling over his hip. His hips jerked up into the touch, stuttering, his whole body arching up into that sensation, the heat exploding outwards and rushing through his entire body. It felt like coming. It felt like if he looked down he'd see come splattered all the way up to his chin. He bit down on the gag, eyes rolling up into his head. There was a roaring noise in his ears as his hips settled back down. His body was burning hot enough to ignite the wood beneath him. His head lolled to the side, tongue depressed by the gag. Lois was standing over him, whip hanging from his hand idly, like he had totally forgotten about it. He was looking down at Tam instead. He reached down to run his fingernails over the lines left on Tam's stomach, his lips parting as Tam shivered underneath him, the sensation too much to process.

"I suppose you're proud of yourself," he said, slowly. "If you're taking pride in the fact I've managed to break you, then I've really outdone myself. Don't you remember when you first came here and you were resisting me? I don't think you even want to anymore." He reached down under the table and turned the lock to release Tam's feet, throwing open the shackles. "Now's your chance to get away from me," he said. "You could definitely escape with just your feet free, right? If you don't try, I'm going to take it to mean you don't want to." He leaned closer, putting his body comfortably close enough that Tam could have kicked him in the face if he wanted to. He could see that Lois's eye was swelling, the red around it darkening. He breathed hard, and drew one of his legs up and then the other. Lois slapped him on the knee.

"Are you trying to please me?" he said. "I don't like that at all." He went to his table and fetched a length of rope, wrapping it around Tam's calf and thigh, binding them together. He repeated it on the other leg and then put his hand on Tam's knee and pushed it up towards his chest until his thigh burned with the strain. Lois looped the rope through a ring on the edge of the table and tied it tight, then repeated the action on the other side. It was a different type of restraint to the metal that had been holding him down. The rope was soft against his skin, even when Lois had pulled it tight enough to leave a mark. If he tried to pull on it, it tightened like a reactive, living thing that was holding him down. He worked his hips a little, trying to close his legs, trying to be less exposed, but it didn't matter. Lois's gaze was pinning him down against the table like he was some tiny, insignificant thing.

He was forgetting what it felt like to not be here. He was forgetting what it was like to not be on the table. The outside world was becoming distant, like a dream that drifted away on waking. Lois was sweating now too, wiping his forehead with his sleeve. He clipped the side of his eye with his wrist and flinched, hand flying up to cover the bruise as he winced. When he looked up again, his face was clouded with anger again, and he was silent, Tam becoming nothing except the focus of his rage. Maybe if Lois had had a sword he would have killed Aris. The shake of his hands belied his control over his emotions. Heat spiked through him at the thought of what Lois might do to him next, and he stretched his legs back as far as he could, pushing his ass down. Lois looked up and uncovered his eye.

"That's pathetic," he said. "I'm glad I put something in your mouth to shut you up so I don't have to hear your begging. Just watching you move like that is disgusting. If you're trying to get me to fuck you, you're going to have to put in more effort. I'm pretty sure if I tried you'd be so stretched I wouldn't even touch the walls."

Tam flinched, but his cock was wetting his stomach incessantly. If Lois left him like this, his body wouldn't know anything else. He'd forget what it was like to be soft. Everything he did was pushing him closer to some oblivion. He could see his future and it was under Lois's hand.

"I'm surprised you made it here at all, really," Lois said, "considering I bet you had to make frequent stops to lie down for every man you found. I bet you can't go half a day without getting a cock up your ass. You probably beg strangers for it in the street. Do you even make it back to their rooms before you can't bear it or do you just let them do it right there and then?"

Tam made a strangled noise in the back of his throat, choking on his own spit. Lois leaned down like he was inspecting Tam's cock and balls and finding him wanting, his critical gaze dragging down over his perineum and down to his hole, reaching out to spread his cheeks. He clicked his tongue. "I'm sorry," he said. "I've been a terrible host. It's been days now and you haven't been fucked. I can't imagine that's been comfortable for you. Of course, I'm not going to do it myself. I don't want to catch something." He reached up and ran his fingers through the precome on Tam's stomach, then brought them back down and pressed one finger against his hole, a slow but deliberate incursion into his flesh. Lois wasn't slow or gentle, pushing first one finger and then a second alongside. Tam grunted. It hurt more anything, even with the drug in his blood. Lois spread his fingers, stretching Tam roughly and with no regard for his comfort, deliberately avoiding his prostate. He withdrew his finger and pressed his thumb in instead, then the other and pulled them apart. Tam cried out, muffled into the gag, and felt hot tears slip out of his eyes. Lois clucked his tongue.

"It's just as I thought," he said. "I bet you couldn't tighten up even if you tried." He slapped the back of Tam's thigh, hard, the smack echoing. He could feel the hot, red mark on his flesh. Lois slapped him again, turning his attention to the mark, and then again, until he was totally absorbed. It felt like he would never stop, the skin on the back of his thigh burning with the sharp impact. His leg was shaking, toes curling. Lois raked his nails down from the soft back of his knee to the swell of his ass and Tam cried out, choking on his own spit. Lois's hand returned but soft, soothing, stroking. "Don't cry," he said. "This might be the only thing you're good at. You should focus on learning what I want. Do you think anyone else is going to want you after this? I'm going to remake you to please only me."

He reached over and picked up Tam's sword. Tam's heart began to thump hard, his breath quick and hard. He struggled out of instinct, even though the feverish part of his brain that was tuned to what Lois was saying was telling him to settle down. He was — he needed — whatever Lois wanted was the right thing. He just needed to do whatever Lois wanted. He closed his eyes, waiting to hear the ring of steel being drawn. Instead he felt something cold touch his stomach and jumped, muscles clenching. Lois had put the pommel of his sword on his stomach, dragging it down over the crease of his thigh and pressing the round pommel against his cock. Tam cried out, shaking his head so hard the bit rattled against his teeth.

"You didn't think I was going to fuck you myself, did you?" Lois said. "You have such unrealistic expectations." He withdrew the pommel of the sword and Tam relaxed incrementally, but it was just to wet it with oil. It hurt to look down at such a harsh angle, and he could only see a slice of what was happening, having to rely on the sensations to figure out what was happening. Lois pressed his fingers back in and stretched Tam out. He groaned, trying to move away and push down towards at the same time. The corners of his mouth felt raw and strained. His lip had split again, blood leaking down his chin and crusting there. He felt disgusting in every sense of the word, straining his legs against the rope and metal loop until his muscles were aching. The rope began to bite against his flesh with each movement, pulling deeper against him every time he struggled. Lois couldn't possibly — it wouldn't — it wouldn't _fit_. Worse than those thoughts, what Lois was doing to his hole was beginning to feel good, his flesh warmed by the pulse of his blood. He was just touching the rim of his hole, but almost massaging it over and over again in a dizzying gentle motion until all he wanted to do was thrust down.

"It's your chance to impress me," Lois said, his voice low and distracted. His attention was fully directed down upon Tam's asshole. Tam clenched without thinking, and Lois sighed. "Well, that lasted about ten seconds," he said, lightly slapping Tam's exposed hole. He grunted. "I think I'm wasting my time with you," he said. "You know, I briefly thought you were special, but you're not even grateful that I'm doing this for you." He put his hand down on the burning expanse of the back of Tam's thigh and cocked his head, eyes snapping up to meet Tam's.

"I wonder what you'd say if I let you speak right now," he said. "Would you ask me to do it, or beg me to stop? I mean, it's academic, really. I suppose you know that neither begging nor pleading has any effect on me." As he was speaking, Tam felt Lois's hand leave his thigh and felt the pommel of the sword move from where it had been resting. It was blood-hot now from resting against his skin, and he could almost imagine Lois was pressing the wet head of his cock against Tam's hole, gently rocking and pressing forwards in tiny movements. The stretch felt good, better than anything else Lois had done to him, but that was only the beginning. As Lois pressed the hilt of his sword deeper, it became unbearable. It didn't feel at all like a cock, even though it helped to imagine it was Lois's. It was hard and rigid, completely unyielding even as he tried to clench around. It was inside him now, undeniably, and Lois paused, his thumb pressing into the rim of Tam's hole where it was most stretched. Tam cried out into the gag, his voice muffled. He wriggled out of pure instinct and Lois took the opportunity to wet the pommel again, then resume his relentless press of the sword into him.

Tam tried to say something like _please_ or _stop_ , some wordless noise taking its place. Lois didn't acknowledge him or look up, all his attention bent down to his task. Tam shivered. It could be anyone up here. It probably _was_ everyone and anyone that was up here. He tried to imagine someone else in his place, Lois's hard, cruel voice seeking them out like a well placed arrow hitting a target. That made his stomach twist as Lois pressed the pommel in for the final time, sliding into him and jamming up against his prostate so hard Tam screamed into the gag, tears running freely down the sides of his face. He jerked down on his hands and rocked his hips against the rope, trying to find some leverage to get it to move. Lois rocked it gently back and forth, not thrusting but just creating a frisson of movement that was only a promise. The pleasure of it was still overwhelming, because even though it was small, it was the most Lois had allowed him for a very long time. It sat inside him, rigid, and he was mindlessly trying to get it deeper, rocking down against it. Lois stepped back.

"That's beautiful," he said, mostly to himself. "This is what you wanted. This is what you asked for. And, to be quite honest, this is what I knew I would do to you the second they put you on that table." He looked down again, slipping a finger into Tam to rest alongside the gri of his sword. "Do you think I could get my cock in there too? Or is that too much work for you for one day."

Tam grunted and shook his head.

"It's not too much?" Lois chuckled and withdrew his finger. "Don't be ridiculous. I have no interest in killing you. You're much more fun alive." He tapped his hand down on the sheath of the sword and the answering vibrations made Tam's hips snap, his head rolling back. Overwhelming pleasure rushed through him. His balls were hot and tight, his cock pulsing as what felt like coming almost reached a peak and then fell away again. He sobbed, wracking his chest before cutting it off. Lois's eyes were shining as he loomed over Tam, watching him struggle. Something Lois had said was coming back to him — something about rewards and punishment. Tam could no longer tell what was reward and what was punishment. It didn't really matter. Anything that happened was happening because that was what Lois wanted.

"Do you want to make a bargain?" Lois said, and his voice was quiet like it was shaped for Tam's ears alone. "I want to make a bargain with you." He leaned up and over Tam's body, planting his hand next to his waist, the other reaching up to pull at the tie of the gag where it was fluttering against his neck. His robe brushed against Tam's cock and he yelled into the metal, choking on his own breath. Lois looked down, mild surprise passing over his sharp features. "That's pathetic," he said. "Can't you control yourself even a little? Perhaps you need more help than even I can give." He tugged at the gag, but it wouldn't come undone and he had to lean up a little further, the sheer fabric of his robe brushing against Tam's cock again and again until he realised Lois was doing it on purpose. His face was very close when Tam looked up, the deep brown of his eyes limitless, one shadowed by a dark red bruise. Without any effort, he pulled away the ribbon of the gag and the pressure on Tam's mouth relaxed. He tried to push it out with his tongue, but Lois wouldn't allow him, tugging it back into place every time he did until Tam stopped, exhausted and defeated just from that simple motion.

Lois reached down and began to pull the sword out of Tam, starting so slowly he didn't realise it was happening, snagging the rounded end of the pommel against his hole and stretching it so much Tam thought it wouldn't ever tighten again, Lois again lingering with the pommel at its widest point. "I suppose this is what you do to yourself when you're alone," Lois said. "Can't even be satisfied by your fingers anymore. Always seeking something bigger." It came free in a sudden movement and Tam couldn't help pushing his hips down after it — he just needed something inside him. He just needed it. Lois was right.

"I think — "

What ever Lois had thought was interrupted by a sound from above the room, light flaring across the room and then dropping down, accompanied by quick but heavy steps. Lois stood abruptly and turned, making his own quick strides towards the door. He pulled it open and stepped outside, but left it ajar enough that Tam could see a slice of what was on the other side. Past Lois's straight back was Prince Aris. He was about a head and a half taller than Lois, his shadow painted up and over Lois with the brazier behind him, stretching out to touch the floor beyond the door. His hair was a dark red that gleamed in the dim light, his skin fair and pale. Lois looked small and dark against his form, his hands clasped behind his back, but his posture was straight and Tam could sense his anger. "You said another day," he said.

"Move aside," Aris said.

"I won't," Lois replied. "You said another day."

"Asking you to move is a courtesy you don't deserve," Aris said. He jerked forward and Lois stumbled back, hand rising to protect from a blow that didn't come. Tam moved too, instinctively, and realised he was alone and unguarded and spat the bit out of his mouth. It landed on the wood with a dull thump. He realised his mistake as both the people at the door turned to look at him. Lois stepped to block Aris's way, but he pushed past him with ease, Lois landing against the door and swinging it open. Aris stood there for a moment more, first making eye contact with Tam and then sweeping a cursory, disgusted look over the rest of his body. He turned back to look at Lois. "You must know that they talk about you upstairs."

"I don't go upstairs," Lois replied, wary eyes snapping back and forth between Tam and Aris. "And I don't listen to what people say."

"There's a betting pool on what you do down here," Aris said, lip curling. "But it looks like everyone lost." Aris went from the door to the table in one stride, going through Tam's things quickly and with little grace, coins ringing against the ground and bouncing away. He came up with Tam's knife, unsheathing it with a quick movement. Then he was standing over Tam. There was nothing of the cold, commanding obeisance that Lois demanded. Aris raised the knife over Tam's face, the point shining down into his eye. "Can he still speak?" he said.

"You're ruining my work," Lois said, coming to stand by Aris. He was perfectly still except for his fretting fingers twisting at his side.

"This isn't _work_ ," Aris said. "You're depraved."

"You've always known that," Lois said. "That's why you put me down here." Aris turned on him, the knife still in hand, and Lois shrunk back, flinching as Aris grabbed him by the front of his shirt, shaking him violently.

"You've wasted days," he snarled, the knife raised. He pulled Lois closer with a jerk and lowered the knife until it was pointing at his heart. "Is this all you do down here? Is that why you never get me the answers I want?"

"No," Lois said, his voice tart despite the strain. "I never get you the answers you want because they don't exist." Aris stabbed the knife down into the table next to Tam's head without looking, and raised his fist again, hitting Lois in the jaw. His head snapped back and he crumpled to the ground, eyes closed. Aris stepped over his body and pulled the knife out of the table with no great effort. There was none of Lois's finesse. He simply put the knife to Tam's throat and pressed it down until he began to bleed.

"Tell me what you know," he said, "or you die."

"No," Tam said.

"What, you'd prefer — " Aris pointed, but didn't look at the rest of Tam's body "— that? Tell me what you know now."

"Cut me free," Tam said.

"No," Aris said, pressing harder. Tam could feel the hot line of his flesh parting, blood running down in a thin stream. "There's only one way for you to live, and that's to tell me what I know."

"If you kill me you won't know anything," Tam said. Aris hit him, then, his club of a fist coming down into his face. He was accustomed to tasting his own blood, but not the reaction his body had developed to pain, his eyes going wide against the mixed sensations. Aris either didn't notice or didn't care. His eyes felt sore and weak, nose throbbing. His cheekbone felt bruised, layering over the marks Lois had left with his rings that very first day, which felt long ago.

"Don't assume I'm ignorant," Aris said. "I know my brother hired you to kill me. I don't need you to tell me that." He reached out and gripped Tam's jaw hard enough to bruise. At the same time Tam felt a movement on the ropes tying his leg to the table, and then a sudden loosening of pressure, then the other side. He went still, fixing his eyes against Aris's blue eyes, bright with a fervour. "I will not be denied."

There was blood in Tam's mouth and nose. His teeth felt rattled by the impact of Aris's punch. Beyond that, there were too many aches and pains to catalogue from the top of his head down to his toes. He felt the other robe loosen and had to resist straightening out his legs. He could see just in the corner of his eye that, obviously, Lois was not where Aris had left him, but Aris had not noticed. Instead he moved the knife away from Tam's throat and stabbed it down into the wood again, seizing Tam's head in his huge, hot hands.

"You don't need to see to talk," he said. Tam shut his eyes quickly, but the hot, wide pressure of Aris's thumbs still landed on his closed eyes. His breath quickened and he tried to turn his head, but the cage of his fingers was impenetrable. No words could stop him when he was determined. He felt something moving around his wrists and pulled as softly as he dared, but nothing happened. It moved again, sliding back and forth. The pressure on his eyes turned to pain and he yelled, pulling as hard as he could. The restrain around his wrists rattled but nothing came free. He kicked his legs as high as he could, trying to find some leverage or an angle to strike out at Aris, but nothing. There was a soft familiar noise and something sprayed down over him, the pressure over his eyes releasing all at once. He opened his eyes. Lois was on top of Aris, his hand white-knuckle gripped around the hilt of Tam's knife in Aris's neck. Blood was dripping wildly around. Aris's arms were up and back, clawing at Lois, one hand hooked around Lois's neck, his fingers almost making it all the way around. Lois's hands were flailing, one hand scraping scratches into Aris's face while the other pulled at his hand. The pain seemed to make him only grip harder, Lois's eyes drifting and going dark, his hands going lax. Tam stopped pulling and twisted, kicking out at Aris, his foot landing against Aris's thigh and then his stomach. Lois reached out one final time, stretched, and pulled the knife against Aris's throat, drawing open a yawning red line. He released Lois, who fell back down to the ground again with a heavy thump. Blood gushed down Aris's front as his hands tried to cover the wound before he fell forward onto Lois, his heavy body warm as the beat of his heart first pushed blood out onto Tam's skin and then faded away to nothing.

He was pinned to the table by Aris's body, but when he pushed up, trying to get out of it, his hand slid up and then the restraint came out of the wood and he was free, pushing Aris's body down to the floor and then sliding after him, flinching back with his first touch of tender feet to the cold floor. Then he was standing, free and totally unencumbered, with no chain and no master. Lois was standing, back to the table and turned, some word that was half formed in his mouth dying at the sight of the empty table, then at Tam on his feet. A war drum was beginning to pulse in the back of Tam's head until it was slamming in his ears. Lois met his eyes and held contact for only a moment before he looked away. Now that he was standing straight, Lois was smaller than he had imagined, more than a head shorter than Tam. No matter how much he looked at him, he seemed too small. He thought Lois would tower over him, but he didn't.

"Tam — " Lois said, but whatever else he said was lost when Tam charged him. Lois lept away, but he was too slow. Tam seized him by the arm and pulled him back. Lois slapped at him, clawing at his shoulders, but Tam was beyond the point of feeling pain. He pulled Lois to the ground and flattened himself on top of him, groaning with relief as he pushed his cock against the ridge of Lois's hip. Lois gasped — Tam couldn't identify the emotion behind it. All he could see was the whites of Lois's eyes and his bared teeth, but his struggles couldn't free himself from Tam's weight. Tam felt hot and alive, staring down at Lois's face.

"Is this the bargain you wanted to make?" he asked.

"It's — "

Tam cut off Lois's voice by kissing him, pressing his teeth into Lois's lips and curling his tongue into his mouth. Lois bit him, and he jerked back, before grabbing at his hair and holding his head still, biting at Lois's slick and soft lips until they were hot and fat, Lois's chin wet with spit. He could feel the fast rhythm of Lois's breath, and the struggle of the muscle in his arms and thighs, and then, as he shifted, he suddenly felt the shape of Lois's cock in his pants, hard and thick. His hips stuttered, mouth yawning open. He wanted to get his mouth around it, but more than that — he felt empty, his ass clenching against nothing as he shoved his cock against the crease of Lois's hip while Lois sobbed with frustration. He moved his hand down the line of his body — and he was so much smaller than Tam had imagined. It was almost like this was a different person. Even Lois's upturned face looked different, his hair askew and blood smeared up the side of his head. Tam pulled a hand free and shoved it against the outline of Lois's cock, pressing his fingers into the outline of it. Lois gasped and then went still as Tam pushed the heel of his hand against it. His face looked like it was in pain, eyes almost closed.

"I thought turnabout's fair play," Tam said. His voice was unrecognisable, coarse and shaking. The fabric of Lois's pants was rough against his cock but it felt good, his hips shaking and thighs flexing as he moved to thrust directly on top of Lois's cock, Lois crying out. He had worked a hand free and smacked Tam across the face. Tam recoiled, blinking. Lois's face was a mask of rage as he grabbed at whatever part of Tam he could find. Some of his nails had broken but he still had two or three, scratching at Tam's neck. Tam closed his eyes and leaned into the pain, and then Lois went suddenly still under him, hand falling away. He was looking at Aris's crumpled body and the blood creeping across the floor towards them. He felt Lois's cock going soft and then Lois was shoving at him with surprising strength, pushing him up until Tam staggered backwards onto his feet.

Lois was staring at him, eyes so wide there was only white around the pupil. Tam looked down and saw he was covered in blood from the chest down, and now Lois was too, his white shirt lurid from where Tam had been pressing against it. He shed his robe and tore the shirt off in a frenzy, throwing it down on the ground. Tam rubbed at his wrists, turning them up and then down. There was a wide band of very dark bruises encircling his flesh, but he cast that thought aside and went to the table where Lois had left the bread, picking it up and shoving into his mouth as fast as he could, chewing enormous bites. His things were strewn around. All of his clothes were in shreds. He could thank Lois for that. He turned with the remains of his pants in his hands to make some remark, but Lois was standing at the edge of the pool of blood, looking down at what remained of Aris.

"I've never killed anyone," Lois said, and his voice was restrained, the words clipped. Even standing as he was, shirtless and bloody, he was quickly regaining the tight control Tam had come to recognise.

"Well — " Tam said.

"Shut up," Lois said, without turning. He picked up the robe from the ground and held it tightly in his hands. Tam turned around again, gathering his bag and sweeping what remained of his things into the bag, the coins rattling against each other. Lois turned. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm leaving," Tam said. "Unless you think you can stop me." Lois watched him go back and forth across the room. There were no clothes that he could find that might fit him, but there was a heavy winter cloak folded up in the corner that he wrapped around him and knotted at the neck, slinging his bag over the top. It would have to do at least until he got out of the city. He poked around in Lois's things, looking for anything of value with surprisingly little protest from Lois. When he turned, he saw it was because Lois was holding his sword, raised and unsheathed.

"I do think I can stop you," Lois said.

"That's fine," Tam said, shifting the bag's weight and standing. "But when they come down here and see Aris's body I suspect you'll be on the floor next to him."

"I'll say you killed him," Lois said, advancing on him with the sword.

"I don't think it'll make much difference to the Princeguard," Tam said. "Although from what I've heard, you might be able to make your penance with your body."

"Shut up," Lois said. "You're not going anywhere."

"Then we'll both die down here," Tam said. "At least one of us will deserve it." Lois snarled and raised the sword. His arms were shaking with effort. Tam put more bread in his mouth and chewed it, cocking his hip against the table. His stomach growled as he swallowed, and smiled back at Lois.

"Fine," Lois said. "I'm coming with you."

"I don't think so," Tam said.

"It wasn't a question," Lois said, stepping forward one last time until the point of the sword was pricking at Tam's chest.

"Do you even know how to use that?" Tam said. "Also, don't you remember the last place that was?"

Lois looked down. "So were my fucking hands," he said, but then his gaze was caught again by the blood against the stones. It was the perfect opportunity for Tam to knock the sword away with his bare hand, but he didn't. The curve of Lois's neck was soft against the dancing light. Tam moved and Lois turned back, raising the sword again. "You're taking me with you."

Tam shrugged. "How long do you think you're going to last on the road without your lace and servants?" He stepped around the sword and went towards the door, the candle flame shaking in his wake.

"Wait," Lois said. "There's another way. A safe way."

"Where?"

"I'm not going to _tell_ you," Lois said, his voice dripping with derision. He went to the table and began to pack vials into a case with a detached air that Tam didn't really believe. He gathered the cloak around him, tucking his chin against the thick softness. It warmed his limbs and body, but his feet remained cold. Lois turned, the strap of the case dark against his bare chest, his breath puffing out in a thin white cloud against the air. "I'll show you." He jerked his head into a fold of the rock behind where Tam had been restrained, where the shadow fell.

"You first," Tam said.

" _You_ first," Lois said.

"Why?" Tam said. "So you can look at my ass?"

"I don't want to look at your fucking ass," Lois said. "I liked you better when you were on the table."

"I never liked you at all," Tam said. Lois reached out and prodded him in the shoulder with the point of the sword. "Wait, wait," Tam said, and reached across to roll Aris over. He came belly-up with milky eyes. Lois gasped, then retched, swallowing it back down furiously. Tam retrieved his knife from Aris's neck and wiped it on his shirtfront, then made quick work of his boots, sliding them onto his feet.

"That's disgusting," Lois said.

"Don't worry," Tam said. "I've done this before."

"Worn a dead man's boots?" Lois said.

"Yes," Tam said, "but I meant 'killed'. It gets easier." He went quiet, hearing the sound of boots and a light blooming in the little window. He gestured at Lois to go first, who furiously gestured back, poking him with the sword again. Tam rolled his eyes and seized the candle from the table, wax spilling and running down his fingers and made his way into darkness. The rock made a supine turn and then began to spiral downwards, the ground sloping away beneath his unsure feet. He could hear Lois's hard breathing behind him, and when he glanced over his shoulder, he had sheathed the sword and was trotting to keep up with Tam's long strides. He knew he could strike out now, but he looked away and continued forward until the rock opened up again onto a small sloped outcropping where a little boat bobbed on the silent, fast-flowing river. "How long have you been planning this?"

Lois was silent, holding the sheathed sword by his side. "Get in," he said.

"I might — "

"Haven't you learned to obey me yet?" Lois said, hand white knuckled on the sword's grip. "I thought you were capable of learning."

Tam shrugged and pulled at the mooring of the boat until it shored up against the rock. Lois slipped past him and climbed in first, Tam following, his weight dipping it until he sat, unhooking the rope and setting them free into the water, only the abandoned candle to see them off into the dark. And it was dark for a few, heart-rending moments, Tam sure at any second they might plunge off a cliff or simply have the boat ripped out from under them, dropping them both into freezing water. His teeth began to chatter against the cold as he wrapped himself up in the cloak, his heart beating too quickly.

" _This_ is what scares you?" Lois's bladed voice said in the dark. "After everything else?"

Tam made no noise. His eyes were adjusting to the dark, seeing the lines of Lois's relaxed legs, the gleam of the sweat on his shoulders and then the sword lying in between them, his hands clasping the hilt. With a rush of fresh air, they hurtled towards some dull light in the distance. Tam clasped at the edges of the boat as the river spat them out into the world, stars revealing themselves as a veil across the world, speckled on the darkness. The moon was thin and weightless, preparing to go dark completely. Still, it meant that he could see Lois even as the fast, cold wind stung his eyes and hands. Both banks were lined with dense dark trees. They were on the west edge of the palace where it backed down onto thick forest, where the men of the Princeguard hunted and trained. Tam had never been on this side before, and he knew nothing about the terrain, his eyes searching the banks for anywhere to alight.

"You'll be waiting a while to find a copse," Lois said, and there was a crack of tiredness in his voice unfamiliar. He was reclining against the prow of the boat like he was relaxing by a fire. Tam huffed lukewarm air into his hands and rubbed them together. "At least one of us is capable of planning ahead."

"I seem to always get the job done," Tam said, putting his hand on the tiller to steady the boat.

"You didn't — "

"It seems I did. Or, at least, you did it for me." Lois frowned, then his eyes widened as he took in what Tam was saying.

"That's ridiculous," Lois said. "You're not smart enough to make a plan like that."

"I thought we just agreed that I don't make plans at all," Tam said, and shrugged. Lois grimaced.

"We both know I mastered you," he said. "Don't even try to deny it."

"I don't feel mastered," Tam said.

"Oh?" Lois said. "If that's true, why am I here? You could have left me behind. You could have thrown me out of the boat by now, but you haven't. Is it because I haven't fucked you yet? Do you think you're just keeping me around for your own pleasure?"

Tam pressed his lips together and shuffled backwards a little to create maximum distance between their bodies. Lois took it as a win, drawing his tongue over his lips and turned away to scout through the darkness. Tam's torso was a mass of dull pain. He pulled the cloak tighter around him in the hopes the warmth might soothe it.

"I have a salve for bruises," Lois said.

"I don't want anything from you," Tam said.

"Don't lie," Lois said. He was content with silence, after that, not speaking while Tam settled more into mulishness. After some time — Tam wasn't sure how long — Lois made a sudden movement, his head coming up in recognition. "Here," he said, and Tam maneuvered the boat into a small beach in accordance with Lois's directions, jumping out into the water and pulling the boat up onto the sand. Lois alighted with much more grace. Tam took the cloak off and folded it, the air stinging his skin, pulling his feet out of wet boots. "What are you doing?" Lois said.

Tam walked into the water and turned around, reaching down to gather and handful of water and flicking it towards Lois, who stumbled back. "Washing," he said. His feet and hands went numb without pause as he cleaned himself as best he could, the water turning pale pink under his ministrations. Light caught on the ring around his cock and he made a noise — he'd forgotten it was there, the metal warmed to the touch and feeling just like part of his body. He reached down to take it off, his fingers making contact and twisting it slightly.

"Don't," Lois said. Tam looked up. He had put his things down on the beach and gotten no further, all his attention turned to Tam's body. It was ridiculous. Of course he wasn't going to listen. He was going to throw that damned thing halfway across the river and let some unlucky fish swallow it. "Don't," Lois said again. Tam moved his hand away from his cock, almost without will. He looked up and found Lois's regard still on him, sweeping up to his face. He didn't say anything further, just gathered his things and went up onto the grass. Tam finished washing as quickly as he could and dried himself roughly with the remains of his shirt, abandoning it in the boat. Crumpled in the corner where Lois had been sitting was his white robe, still stained with blood. Tam shook it out. Even it was shorter than he had been expecting. He dipped it into the cold water and it went loose like gossamer, floating in the current. The blood was still fresh and wet enough that it seemed to just drift away into the water, like shedding a veil. He wrapped himself back up in the heavy winter cloak and followed Lois's footsteps in the grass where the frost was broken. He was huddled in a niche of rock, and looked up when he heard Tam approaching.

"You sound like an oxen rummaging through the bushes," Lois said. Tam wasn't listening, because he was discovering the grass underneath his boots was dry and warm, steam rising from the ground. There was a straight line draw up into the rock, which was warm too. He pressed his hands flat against the rock and then leaned against it, full bodied. It was like sneaking into a bed recently vacated where the sheets and blankets were still warm.

"What is this?" he said.

"I don't know," Lois said. "I've never been here before. Just heard about it."

"From who?"

"I don't answer _your_ questions," he said. "Remember? Anyway, I'm surprised you didn't take the boat and keep going down the river." Tam didn't answer, but instead spread Lois's robe on the ground. Lois was resting his back against the rock, his knees drawn up to his chest. He looked awfully small, curled up like that. He sniffed. "Don't look at me like that," he said.

"Like what," Tam said, wrapping the cloak around him more firmly and sitting down next to the drying robe.

"Like I'm a thing to be pitied," Lois said, frowning. Tam rummaged in his bag and came up with his knife.

"Give me your hand," he said.

"What?" Lois said. "No."

Tam gestured again, waving Lois's hand over. He extended it very warily, ready to snatch it back at the slightest unexpected move. Tam took it, surprised at first by how cold his skin was, drawing his fingers out from the loose curl they were in and went to work cutting his fingernails down to match the broken ones until they were all a uniform length. When he was done with both hands, Lois's head was lolling back, his eyes closed and his hands warm. "Don't pretend I haven't mastered you," he said, his voice softly slurring with fatigue. "If you'd done to me what I'd done to you I would have killed you the first chance I got."

"Maybe I'm waiting for the right chance," Tam said. Lois opened his eyes, dark and heavy with sleep and moonlight, and craned his head away from Tam, exposing his neck.

"Just do it now if you're going to," Lois said. Tam put the knife down, Lois's eyes tracking it the whole time. "I don't understand you at all." Tam shrugged again and tucked his chin into the cloak.

"Maybe you have mastered me," he said, very quietly, and felt Lois go still behind him. Tam lay down, facing away, and closed his eyes.

"One thing," Lois said, and Tam heard the shift of clothing and then the crumpling sound of paper. "I found this in your pocket before."

"I know what it is," Tam said, heart sinking.

"Don't you want to see it anyway?" Lois said. "I can tell from the softness of the paper that you've been looking at it a lot."

"Maybe," Tam said.

"Did you — " and then he heard Lois stifling a laugh. "Did you see Prince Kae's royal portrait and decide to rescue him all on your own?"

Tam said nothing, but pulled the cloak up over his head, even though it exposed his legs up to the calf. He could hear Lois chuckling to himself.

"What was it?" he said. "The hair? The eyes?"

"Eye," Tam said, mostly into the cloak.

"Oh, how terribly rude of me," Lois said. "I forgot." The sound of his barely covered laughter followed Tam down into the depths of exhausted sleep.

 

*

 

He woke, cold and alone, his breath gushing out into the air in a cloud of white. There was no sign of Lois and he had rolled out of his cloak, exposing his skin to the air. The heat from the rock had dulled against the depths of the night. Tam tried to pull his cloak around him and found he couldn't move his hands. He came awake at once, blinking sleep from his eyes. His wrists were bound together with rope attached to a stick pressed into the ground. He tugged on it and found that it slid halfway out without any effort. Lois's bag was still on the ground next to him. There was movement on his side towards the river and he hurriedly reached up to push the peg back into the ground. Lois was approaching, naked except for the white robe, his steps smooth and sure through the grass. His hair was wet and slicked back against his head, his eyes dark and severe.

"I have a question for you," he said, his voice commanding. Tam went still as he approached, trying to figure out the right thing to do — what Lois wanted him to do. "Don't speak before I'm finished." He knelt by Tam's head and reached out to touch the bruises on his throat, his hand so cold and wet with river water it raised goosebumps on Tam's chest. He pressed his thumb against the edge of the bruise. Without his nails it was just a dull pressure that set Tam's heart awake and beating against the touch. "Do you hate me for what I did to you?"

"Yes," Tam said, without hesitation.

"Oh, good," Lois said, eyes widening and mouth twisting into that cruel smile that sent a shock of fear and arousal down Tam's spine. "That's what I was hoping you'd say." He slung his leg over Tam's chest, his skin feeling icy cold and making Tam shiver. "Now, there's a number of promises you made to me that I'm going to need you to keep." He reached out and pressed his fingers into the heat of Tam's mouth, first pushing to the back of his tongue and then sweeping around the sides of his teeth and pulling his bottom lip down with a pinching grip until Tam grunted in pain. "I don't want you to think this is what I do to everyone that crosses my table. Or crossed, I suppose. When they brought you in and I found that pin in your mouth I knew you were something special."

He reached back behind him and touched Tam's cock, and he couldn't stop his response, going from half-hard to aching so fast it made his head spin. Lois laughed. "I guess you really do hate me," he said. "I can feel it." He leaned down, bracketing Tam's head with his arms, so close he could feel the heat of his skin and bit Tam's bottom lip, sucking on it until he thought it would bruise on the inside of his mouth. Lois tasted like cold water and metal, his teeth hard and sharp against Tam's lips until when he drew back all he could taste was his own blood pulsing against the bruise. He withdrew and Tam leaned up to follow him, but he didn't hesitate, turned around and settling back down. "Don't say I've not done anything for you," he said and slid back until his feet were at Tam's ears, then settled down, pressing his weight down on Tam's face. Tam gasped, then opened his mouth and tilted his head up, pushing his tongue against Lois's hole. He tasted clean and wet, and beyond that like the smell of his skin. Lois braced himself on Tam's chest, thumbs slipping against Tam's nipples and making him buck, pressing the hot, flat of his tongue against Lois's hole. He could feel Lois's thighs shaking against his head, his breath stuttering.

"I thought — " Lois gasped as Tam pointed his tongue and ran it around the rim of his hole, sliding it against the tight rim of muscle. "I thought you'd be good at this — " his voice went high, his hands clenching on Tam's chest, as Tam licked him in wide, flat strokes, his weight mastering him until there was nowhere to go and nothing to do except try and get deeper inside him, the rope on his wrists roughing at already abraded skin. "That's pathetic," Lois gasped out, then moaned, reaching behind him to grasp at Tam's hair and push his head at the angle he desired. Tam licked into him as deep as he could manage, Lois riding his face hard enough that he could feel his nose grinding against him, his voice rising into a high sob around gasped out syllables while he tried to find the strength to taunt him. Tam felt a rising triumph in his chest. He had never provoked a true reaction of pleasure from Lois before. He thought from the movement of Lois's arm that he was touching his cock. He seized at the rim of Lois's hole with gentle teeth, just touching it. Lois went still, releasing Tam's hair. Tam replaced his teeth with tongue, but Lois wasn't in a forgiving mood, pulling away.

"What do you think you're doing?" he said, lifting his hips and turning around again, reaching behind him to grab Tam's cock roughly, squeezing hard enough to make Tam gasp.

"If you're going to come, come inside me," Tam said, and Lois slapped him across the face, the stinging impact making his eyes roll back in his head.

"Don't talk," Lois said. "Do you want my cock to go soft from the sound of your voice? You don't _tell_ me what to do. I tell you, and you listen, or you get nothing." His voice was steady and cruel, but his hips were inching backwards until the head of Tam's cock was pressing against Lois's wet hole. Tam's breath was rapid, his world narrowing down to what he could feel, the head of his cock pressing half an inch into the tightness of Lois's ass, his head tipped back as his breath came as steam. Lois was flushed from his cheeks down to his cock, which was just as thick and big as it had felt in his pants. Tam's mouth was wet at the sight of it. He pushed his hips up but Lois rocked forward away from his attempt.

"Let me suck your cock," Tam said.

"No," Lois said. "I don't want to do that at all."

"Let me touch you."

" _No_ ," Lois said. "If I wanted you to touch me I wouldn't have tied you up. I just bathed. I don't want to have to do it again."

"Tell me what you want," Tam said, his hips pushing upwards again. Lois increased his painful grip until Tam gasped, and then relented.

"If only it was that easy," Lois said. "Surely you know by now that I want you to suffer."

"I have suffered," Tam said. "It's been days — "

"And you were doing so well," Lois said, smiling down at him. "I suppose you've earned something. But it'll come at a price."

"Anything," Tam said, hating the desperate note in his voice.

"Compliment me," Lois said.

" _What_?"

"Say something nice," he said. "You've been quite hurtful, you know."

"I can't," Tam said. Lois pushed down again, pressing the first inch of Tam's cock against his hole and Tam writhed, trying to shove into him with any leverage he could get. He could rip the peg out of the ground — it had no power to hold him. He could rip the peg out and hit Lois in the face and push him down, but he didn't want to. "There's nothing I like about you."

"Improvise," Lois said, shutting his mouth with a clack and beginning to fuck himself just on the head of Tam's cock, his hands braced so hard on his chest that he thought his fingerprints might mark bruises on his skin.

"I'm going to kill you," Tam said. Lois didn't react, his mouth falling open as Tam's cock slipped out of him and then reached back to line it up again, just pressing the tip in and out of his grasping hole. It was a weak, fluttering pleasure, snatched away as soon as he began to feel it. "You're beautiful," he said, biting off the word and twisting his head to the side.

"That's not specific enough," Lois said. Tam felt like he was going to scream. He was going to die if he didn't get his cock into Lois within ten seconds. He might still die if he did. The wet, desperate gasps he could hear were his own, his mouth lolling open as he watched Lois pleasure himself with no regard for him. There was nothing coming from his burning mind.

"I like your — I like your fucking eyelashes," Tam said, his voice ragged and short of breath. "And — and your thighs."

Lois tipped his head back and laughed, and then opened his legs and sat back down on Tam's cock, pushing the whole thing into his body with one rough thrust. Tam's hips kicked up and Lois gasped, bracing himself against Tam's chest. His ass was almost unimaginably tight and hot, sheathing Tam's cock exactly as he had imagined. Tam moaned, rolling his hips up, Lois meeting him on the upstroke so that their skin met with a harsh slap on Tam's hips until his skin was hot and stinging. Lois was rocking back and forth greedily, reaching back behind him to feel the ring around Tam's cock where it was pressing into him. Inside him was so hot and wet that Tam thinks Lois could get another cock in there if he tried to brace himself against two sets of thighs until his hole itself is bruised and aching. Lois's hair was sticking to his forehead with sweat, his thighs trembling as he screwed himself on Tam's cock. "Ah," he said, his voice high with pleasure. "Ah, that's — that's — " He looked dazed by it, like Tam had managed to fuck him stupid. He pulled at the rope again, having to still himself from ripping the peg out of the ground.

"It's good?" Tam said, his tongue thick in his mouth. "I thought you'd like it." Lois opened his eyes, looking down on him with narrow eyes.

"I thought it would be bigger, that's all," Lois said, "I thought I'd be able to feel it — ah!" He cried out as Tam thrust up, Lois unprepared as Tam found the right angle against his prostate, grinding up without mercy. Lois reached down and grabbed the base of his cock, squeezing to stop himself from coming as Tam thrust up over and over, mindless driving his cock into the heat of his ass until He looked debauched, his cock painfully hard as he worked his hips in a little circle against Tam's cock, gasping and sobbing against Tam's neck.

"Don't," Tam said. "Please."

"Don't what?" Lois said, his tongue sliding against Tam's collarbone as he looked up at him, biting down on the bone as he pushed his hips back again. Tam's cock felt raw, used with no regard for him like Lois could be here alone, could be with anyone else. "Don't let you fuck me like you've been begging?"

"Let me come," Tam said. "Please."

"Do you feel like you'll die if you don't?" Lois said. Tam nodded, feeling hot tears slip away from behind his eyes. "Maybe it's too late," he continued, lying his head down on Tam's chest. "Maybe it's been too long and you can't any more." His tone of voice was teasing, but it belied the fact that Tam could feel his heavy cock resting against his stomach, his hips twitching forward even though his face looked serene and unaffected.

"Please," Tam said, his resolve crumbling. "I don't know what you want. Just tell me what you want."

Lois looked so much like a contented cat he might have purred, but instead leaned forward to lick at the side of Tam's face, tasting the tears there. He reached behind him and steadied himself, sliding up and off Tam's cock. He sobbed, turning his head away. Lois would truly never let him come again. "This is what I want," Lois said. "I want to see you cry." Then his hand encircled Tam's cock and squeezed, the other coming down and twisting the ring until it sprang open and released, Lois's hands falling away away with it. Tam opened his eyes and looked down. His cock looked naked without the ring, strange and unfamiliar. "How long do you think you'll last?" Lois asked. "You'll have to apologise and swear this never happens." He reached down and pushed Tam's leg up until it was against his chest, his fingers going further down and pressing against Tam's hole. He was still stretched from before, he realised with a jolt as Lois thrust two fingers into him without warning, the stretch like pressing into a bruise. Then he withdrew his fingers and pressed back with three to stretch — no, it wasn't fingers. Lois was pushing in with his cock and it hurt but he was relentless, snapping his hips forward in one shove, intruding into Tam's ass. It felt as thick as it looked, impaling him and burning into him.

"Is it what — "

Tam cried out as he felt Lois's pelvis make contact with his ass, Lois's balls slapping against him. His head swam as he realised he was beginning to come, the sensation racing up and down his thighs with a depthless heat as Lois bottomed out. His cock was red and hard, tapping against his stomach. He opened his eyes and looked down, the stretch in his thigh overwhelming with Lois leaning his weight down on his pushed up leg. His balls drew up tight and hot against him as he succumbed to the sensation untouched, shooting come up his own stomach and onto his chest, high enough that it splattered warm against his neck and up to his chin, landing against his lower lip. It seemed unending, rushing out against his stomach and dripping down onto his thighs, smearing across his skin. He was sobbing, crying, begging — it didn't matter any more. It went on, and on, until he thought his mind would shatter from the sheer force of it and he would be a puppet for Lois, a sheath for his cock forever until it seemed to come to an end and he was drenched in his own spend from his belly to his mouth, his head falling down to the earth with a thunk that rattled around in his skull, his cock finally lying soft and sated against his skin.

It took a moment to realise Lois was laughing at him. "Well," he said. "Aren't you going to apologise to me?"

"I'm sorry," Tam said automatically. He didn't seem to be able to think. He was somewhere down past the darkest parts of his mind, where everything was soft and subtle. Tam could tell that Lois was still thrusting into him, setting of sparks of automatic pleasure from his body, but it felt strange and far away. It was right that Lois was doing whatever he wanted. That was what Tam was for.

"Say this never happens to you," Lois said, and he was laughing as he grabbed at Tam's hips, angling his cock to drive down into him, sliding directly over his prostate. Tam could taste his own come on his mouth. He couldn't answer because it was taking too long to understand what Lois had said, so Lois reached forward and began to stroke Tam's cock, which hurt so much it almost began to feel good again. "Say it," he said. "You've been doing so well."

"This never happens to me," Tam said, the words passing his lips from a syrupy far away place. Lois pressed his face into the crook of Tam's knee, shaking with laughter, his hips a relentless movement against Tam's overstimulated prostate. Tam couldn't take his eyes off his red mouth, his teeth against his curled lip as he moved Tam's body as he pleased.

"Say — " Lois said, and moaned, his hips faltering as his thrusts slowed down and became shallow, his hips grinding into the back of Tam's thighs, his blunt fingers scrabbling over the bruises he had already laid there. "Say you like my cock in your cunt," he said. Tam's fingers spasmed, clenching into the meat of his palms.

"W — what?"

"Come on," Lois said. "I remember you _begging_ me to fuck you. This is what fucking me is like." He rolled his hips forward in a sinuous motion, the other hand squeezing Tam's cock. "Say it."

"Hurts," Tam said, and although it felt like it hurt, his body was telling him it felt good, his hips rising and breath coming fast.

"I won't ask again," Lois said.

"I like it," Tam said, voice cracking as Lois squeezed him again. "I like your cock in my cunt." Lois gasped, eyes going wide as he pushed forward one final time and began to come inside Tam, who felt the searing pulse of it deep within him that seemed to go on forever, Lois's hands digging bruises into his thighs until his hands went slack and he pulled free of Tam and knelt, gasping, in the grass.

Something soft and wet was touching Tam's face and he started, pulling the peg completely out of the ground. It was snowing, very lightly, flakes big enough only to last half a moment before melting on his skin. Lois brushed his hair back from his face, the sharp angles of his face illuminated by the slim moon behind him. Steam was rising from his body, snow melting before it even reached him and dissipating into the air. He was smiling, mouth open and head tipped back to catch the flakes on his tongue. Tam couldn't look at him for more than a few seconds, reaching into his bag to finally use the scraps of his pants to wipe his body clean. Lois shook his head like a dog emerging from water and unbound Tam's hands, pulling him towards the warm rock. He threw the winter cloak over Tam, who reached out to pull it close with nerveless hands. He was shaking a little, random jumps in his muscles startling him. Lois shed his robe like a chrysalis and bullied his way under the cloak and into the circle of Tam's arms, his back to Tam's front, settling his head under Tam's chin. Tam felt like he was flint holding steel, like he might be used to strike sparks and then crumble. He waited for Lois to make some cutting remark, but after a few minutes he realised Lois was asleep, his chest making a soft, exhausted rise and fall. Tam matched that rhythm because he had none of his own, and soon exhaustion took him, rather than sleep.

 

*

 

He woke to the sun's rays on his face with a pale and milky light filtering through the clouds. Lois was crouched next to him, wearing a fresh shirt and clean pants.

"Where did you get that?" Tam said, and flinched at the wrecked sound of his own voice.

"Brought it with me," Lois said, taking an unlit cigarette out of his mouth. "Didn't you pack anything to wear?"

"You took care of that," Tam said.

Lois chuckled. "I suppose I did. Well, we'll find something on the way."

"On the way where?" Tam said, pulling himself up into a sitting position. His whole body felt back and blue, and he had to rest his head against the rock to avoid falling over. Lois reached out, brushing a fond finger across Tam's jaw to the point of the bruise of his lower lip.

"To find Prince Kae, of course," he said, like they had been discussing it at length for hours. He stood, offering a hand to Tam. Tam ignored it, and struggled to his feet, pulling the cloak around him.

"What?"

"Prince Kae," Lois said. "He of the beautiful eye. Did I make you forget your infatuation?"

Tam's mind ground through the sentence slowly. His tongue wet his bottom lip and pressed against the bruise there. "You told me Prince Kae was dead," he said.

Lois cocked his head. "Did I? _I_ was told that in the scuffle of the failed assassination attempt he made some kind of escape."

"You said you wouldn't lie to me."

"After that, yes, I did," he said. "So I wasn't wrong."

"I don't understand," Tam said. "Do you fight for Prince Kae's cause?"

"No, no," Lois said. "I don't care about anything like that." He reached out and put both his hands on Tam's shoulders, then exerted pressure until Tam knelt at his feet, his knees pressing into the soft, wet grass. Lois stroked his thumb down Tam's cheekbone, and then went to work touching each of the individual bruises down his neck and across his jaw. "I just want to see your face when you see him and realise you can't have him," he said, seizing Tam by the neck, his eyes large in his face. "I've made you as I like. You're mine now." Tam turned his face up into that grip, feeling recalcitrant but leaning into it at the same time, unable to find a balance between the two. He released Tam, who swayed towards his grip, and then pulled himself up to standing again. "What do you say?"

"Why are you doing what I want," Tam said, confused.

"I'm not," Lois said. "Are you coming or not?" He picked up his bag and turned towards the glint of the river through the trees where the little boat was being washed up against the beach, making a little trail through the dewy grass. Tam was left to choose to follow or stay, naked under the cloak and with wet knees from the grass. He hesitated for a moment. To follow meant Lois was right. He stood there for half a moment longer, listening to his body protest. He could feel each and every thing Lois had done to him as an echo on his skin. Lois hadn't turned to look because he knew Tam would follow, and he did, taking long strides in a parallel path to Lois's own.


End file.
